Aquatica
by BumblelikeBee
Summary: Lula can manipulate water, but she has no idea how to control it. After being recruited by the X-Men she becomes Aquatica, and finally feels like she belongs. But Magneto's lack of involvement is suspicious and Lula finds herself in an emotional battle. Will she follow her heart or her head? OC and the X-Men (Seasons 1-2)
1. Chapter 1 - Different

Chapter One: Different

Everyone's special. That's what my parents told me all the time. In fact, it was probably repeated in our household once a day. I think they said it more as a reassurance, it's not as if they actually believed it.

I believed them for a long time, that every one was special, and in some ways we all are, but only a few are different. And if I were going to identify with one category, it would be different.  
>Call me crazy – which I have been – but I have a feeling mutant is more of the way to describe what I am. I haven't always been this way, but now I can't remember a time when I wasn't able to do what I can.<br>My name is Tallulah Avery and I can control water.

It happened so suddenly, and every one noticed and then I was labeled 'different' and 'the freak' the usual kind of things for people like me, or so I'm told now, anyway.  
>I was the captain of the high school swim team and I was only a junior. It was practically unheard of, but I had a gift. I guess I just didn't realize how true that was, until the incident. I was the perfect leader, the fastest racer, and to top it all off I hadn't missed a single meet since middle school. But then every thing changed and I thought I would never be able to go into the water again.<p>

"Hey, Lula!" My best friend waved to me from the stands, even if he wasn't waving you'd still be able to see him - he was a good head and shoulders above the average teen, and his bright red hair didn't help matters either. It was the championship gala. There was only one more heat between me and the final trophy of the season.  
>I raised my goggles and threw him a smile. Toby Johnson had supported me in every single race, and never missed a single swim. He was the school photographer and always had the liberty of capturing my winner's pose.<p>

"Good luck out there." The girl in the lane to my left gave me a curt nod. She was from the school a few miles out of town, I'd beaten her before in races so wasn't threatened by her obvious attempt to throw me off my game.

"Thanks, Crystal, you too."  
>The lifeguard climbed the ladder to his chair and poised the whistle in between his teeth. The coaches were lined up on the outside of the pool holding the towels, trying to psych each other out. They'd probably already placed their bets on who was the next champion. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the other schools' coaches placed bets on me too.<p>

I tuned it all out.

Nothing could throw me off. When I was near the water I could drown every one out.  
>The blare from the whistle was short, sharp and assaulted everyone's ears. I always had my swimming cap pulled down tight over my ears, that way I wasn't stunned for one precious second like the others.<br>I often wondered if that one-second advantage was what helped me to win, but I knew it was more than that. I'd trained for these kinds of moments since I was six years old. As soon as I was old enough my parents had signed me up. I was at the pool as often as I could be, and if I wasn't in the water then I was standing on the side, coaching the kids at the outdoor center.  
>Before the second of silence after the whistle I had already broken the crystalline surface. The cool water hugged my skin, but I pushed it away with strong, swift strokes. Breathing in every six, not every four. I loved how blurred my vision became when I was underwater, nothing was definite except the fact that the water surrounded me and I could bend it to my will.<p>

Every kick of my legs propelled me forward faster than imaginable. Three more strokes and I had hit the other side of the pool, ducking my head down quickly for the turn. Even though I tumbled through the water, I kept in control and forced my lungs to clench even tighter as I still waited my required six strokes.

You can lose what's up and what's down when you're swimming, so sometimes it's just better to close your eyes. I never told any one that I did, they'd tell me it was a stupid mistake, but I felt no need to worry, if anything it just improved my game. When I came up for air I gulped down the oxygen that my raw throat craved, consoling myself that in two more laps it would be over and I'd have one more trophy to add the collection. _Maybe this one could go on the mantle piece? _

But one moment of distraction and it's all over.

I wish I hadn't looked left. Maybe if I hadn't I wouldn't have seen Crystal duck her head for the tumble. I wouldn't have seen her push off three seconds before me. I wouldn't have felt the need to push myself harder, and I wouldn't have lost control.

My muscles were aching, but not enough to slow me down. I'd already matched Crystal's speed, but it didn't matter; the damage had already been done.

The current I'd been pushing back had gotten stronger and stronger. I thought it strange that it felt like the water was pushing me rather than the other way round, but I didn't think too much of it until it was time for the final push off. I ducked my head down and rolled.  
>The water behind me surged forward forcing me to dive deeper, if I'd kept watch to the left and right of me I would have seen what was happening, but I'd made that mistake once already. I'd had to wait for Toby to tell me afterwards what had happened to the others.<p>

Suddenly the water felt like a ton of bricks resting on my shoulders, forcing me down until my stomach hit the floor of the pool. I strained against the weight of the water crushing the little air I had left in my lungs. Then I made the mistake of opening my mouth.

In normal circumstances I would have breathed in an awful lot of chlorinated water, choked and tried to surface, but that didn't happen. The weight that had been crushing me only seconds before was suddenly released, I looked down and saw beads of water roll down my swimming suit, and drip onto the bone-dry tiles beneath me. I didn't breathe in a mass of pool water, I was breathing air. As in above water air, which was not scientifically possible.

I managed to roll onto my back and look up. It was like I was in a bubble, everything around me was completely dry, like I had created a waterproof shield that I didn't know how to turn off. If I put my hand in front of my face I could see it clearly, but the water lapping at my protection distorted everything else. I could just about make out the dark colours of the coaches' jackets as they leant at the side of the pool, trying to figure out what was happening, but I was transfixed by the reflections of the luminescent lighting.  
>One thousand noises crashed into my bubble all at once. Mostly the warbled screams of the crowd above me.<p>

"Lula! Lula!" They screamed.  
>Strangely I felt no fear, I was freaked out a little bit, but I wasn't scared of what I had done. Perhaps I should have been.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2 - Repellent

Chapter Two: Repellent

I pushed myself from the floor into a seated position. "H-h-hello?" I tested. Just as I had suspected I didn't choke on water intake. Whatever it was that was keeping me from the water allowed me to breathe normally and to talk.

Three meters below the surface and it was like I was on dry land. I laughed, pulling my swimming cap off for the second test. Golden blonde hair cascaded down my back and tickled my shoulders.  
>Bone-dry, but after everything else, I'd expected nothing different. Normally the ends would be damp, but nothing. Not one strand was wet.<p>

The final test was moving, because there was no way I wanted to be trapped at the bottom of my high school's pool for the foreseeable future. Carefully at first, I extended my arm, when I did so the shield expanded so there was a constant boundary between the water and myself. It seemed as though my skin was now water repellent.

The water and my skin had become polar opposites, refusing to touch even if I relaxed completely.

_Why now? _Should have been my first concern, but I was too amazed to think straight. I'd overanalyze everything later – as per usual. It was the other key to my success. If I could pick up where I went wrong then I could change it the next time I was in the water. I had pushed myself to become the champion swimmer I was.  
>After ascertaining that I could move, I planted my feet firmly on the tiles and tried to stand. There was no resistance; I thought water pressure would have been an issue but my powers seemed to cancel all logical explanations.<br>_Now what? Do I jump? _  
>It took a few moments of hesitation before my mind came up with the answer. <em>Swim, just without the water. <em>

How do normal people reach the surface? They swim. It was the only answer I had, it seemed ridiculous, but I had to at least try.  
>Without wasting another second, I bent my knees, raised my hands high above my head, and pushed off bringing my arms back down to my waist. With a sudden shot of energy, I was propelled to the ceiling of my new world. I almost forgot how to swim, it was so stupid, but from what I knew it was pretty impossible to swim without water. I kicked my legs and sure enough the surface rushed up to meet me.<p>

The moment my head broke the surface, there were screams of horror, confusion and maybe relief. But I only knew one person that would have that reaction.  
>Toby rushed to the pool's edge and extended his hand towards me. "Lula! You're alive!" he blurted. I hauled my elbow onto the side and took his hand, using it as an anchor.<br>I lifted my goggles away from my eyes and saw Toby's shocked expression. His eyebrows were practically at his hairline and his jaw had dropped to the floor. "W-what?"  
>I put my hands on my hips and gave him a look that said 'problem?'<p>

"Y-you're completely dry!" he exclaimed, he had to push his glasses up to keep them from falling off the bridge of his nose.

I reached up to my hair involuntarily, and just as it had been when I was underwater, there was no longer one droplet of water on my person, not even my swimming suit was wet.  
>"Umm…yeah."<p>

"Lula." Coach grabbed my shoulder. "What happened to you, why aren't you wet?" Her lips were pursed and she radiated concern.

"I honestly have no idea," I mumbled, my voice was quiet, barely audible over the chaos around me.  
>"And you expect us to believe that?"<p>

I jerked my shoulder away from her grasp and looked at her in disbelief. "Of course I do!"  
>"Lula, the other swimmers were practically chucked out of the water. It suddenly surged from beneath them! The water levels were <em>way <em>higher than physically possible, it was like there was extra water coming from somewhere." As Toby rattled off the story his features got more and more animated. It sounded just like one of the plot lines in the comic books he read. But that kind of stuff didn't happen in real life.

Of course it didn't, but there was something telling me it just had.  
>"An ambulance has already been called for," Coach said gravely. "It's a miracle you survived."<p>

"Wait, how long was I under there?"

"Almost ten minutes!" Toby beamed.

"Ten minutes? But my record is two and a half!" I couldn't keep the excitement from creeping into my voice.

"What _did _happen down there, Tallulah?" Coach folded her arms across her chest. "You've got a lot to answer for, the other coaches are up in arms about this and you need to talk to the other girls."

Even if these people were genuinely concerned for me, I didn't feel any impulse to tell them what happened. Undoubtedly, they had already come to their own conclusions. The terms 'freak' and 'weirdo' already seemed to be bouncing around the stands.  
>I looked into the eyes of my coach; there was a hint of worry, but mostly anger and frustration. Toby looked slightly upset, probably because he hadn't caught the whole thing on camera.<br>The pressure of everyone's stares bore into my back, searing holes through my costume. The lights were too bright, like a spotlight demanding answers, and the noise level had rose to an absolute maximum.  
>"I'm sorry, but I really have to go." I swiped my towel from the benches even though I didn't need it. I'd have to grab my bag from the locker rooms, but that wasn't my top priority.<p>

All I wanted to do was escape from the questions, escape from the panic and escape from myself. Whenever I felt like that, I always found my way to the water. But that didn't look like an option anymore.


	3. Chapter 3 - Inquisition

Chapter Three: Inquisition

The wave of realization crashed into my shore. Suddenly I was different, not special.  
>I'd rushed out of the locker rooms as fast as I could, grabbing the duffel bag from my locker – because I couldn't exactly go home in a swim suit – and ran all the way home. My parents weren't in, and for once I was glad of it. Gala events were normally held on weekday afternoons, which coincided with their work. That's why I had Toby with me. I relied on his support. A winner is only a winner if they have a good support team, even if that's only one person.<br>I'd kept my suit on underneath my clothes, and led face down on my bed, practically smothering myself.

_What am I?_ was the only thought circling through my mind, over and over. Each time I couldn't come up with a better answer than 'different.' I had no idea what I was going to say to my parents, they might even have been called after the tournament. If they had then I had some serious explaining to do when they got home, which if they left straight away, would only be in a small matter of time.

To distract myself from the ever-present worries, I gazed in the cabinet opposite the door. It was better than counting the cracks in the ceiling of my existence. But only just. Looking at the trophies just forced me to add up the cracks in my life. The amount of people I'd pushed away because I was so desperate to win. Toby, who was always there, and the fact that I barely ever said thank you. Even my parents who, although could never make one meet, I knew would have wanted to support me.

But I'd pushed them all away. I'd drowned them all out.

If you forget about the others then the only person you have to blame, if something goes wrong, is yourself.

My vision blurred out of focus and I started to think about every move, every stroke, and every breath I'd made out there. Each action was ripped apart and analyzed to an extreme level.

But I'd made all the right turns. I'd only breathed in when I absolutely had to. My strokes were stronger than ever after all the training I had put myself through. There was no calculation for the error. All except looking to the left.

I'd been so stupid.

Just one slip up and you've already lost but if I hadn't looked, would it have still happened? If I hadn't pushed myself then, what's to say that the next time I wouldn't do the exact same thing?

_No one's going to want to talk to me tomorrow, _I thought miserably. The whole student body would know that something was up as soon as Toby didn't arrive at the notice board to pin up the latest victory captured.

I don't know how long I spent sulking – long enough that it took the sound of the door opening downstairs to rip my from my reverie.

"Tallulah?" Mum called upstairs.

"Coming," I sighed.

_Let the questions roll in, it's not like I'll be able to answer them. _

Trailing my hand along the banister I slipped down the stairs, the final step creaked as I jumped from the bottom.  
>They were in the kitchen. Mum was sat at the breakfast bar, and Dad was stood behind her, one hand resting comfortingly on her shoulder.<br>"Tallulah," her voice was a tad too sweet, her smile a tad too fake.

"Honey." Dad looked at me pleadingly, probably hoping I wasn't about to confirm what they already knew.  
>"Sit down, sweetie." Mum pulled out the stool next to her, but I remained standing by the door. She didn't say anything, but I could tell by the way her foot was tapping that she felt uncomfortable. "What happened today?"<p>

"I honestly have no idea." It was exactly what I had told Coach, and they had the same reaction.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. One minute I was swimming and the next I was at the bottom of the pool, and stayed there for ten minutes."

"But no one can hold their breath underwater for that long," Dad pointed out. It wasn't a question, because he wanted me to agree with him.

"Of course not." I shrugged and he smiled at me, relief flooding through his features. "I didn't hold my breath for that long, because I didn't have too," I added.

"What do you mean?" Mum's eyes narrowed in accusation.

"I mean I didn't have to hold my breath, because I could breathe normally."

"But you were underwater!" She exclaimed, like it explained everything.

"No I wasn't. I was at the bottom of the pool. That doesn't mean I was underwater." With each question I felt my defenses getting stronger. I wasn't going to let them discredit what I knew was the truth.

"It's impossible to breath underwater, Tallulah."

"I'm not saying I did!" Frustration was now audible in my voice. "I'm saying that there was _no _water. I couldn't have breathed it in if I tried."

"I don't understand…" Dad sank into the chair that had been intended for me. With the two of them sat down I felt like I was at an inquisition. They wouldn't believe me, unless I proved it to them.  
>"What are you doing?" Mum asked, as I stormed round the breakfast bar and into the kitchen, and filled the sink to the brim.<p>

"Water." I pointed to it. "Hand." I lifted mine up. "Put the two together and… what?" My hand slipped straight in, and when I pulled it back out in surprise a quarter of my sleeve was soaking wet.

"Don't lie to us, Tallulah."  
><em>But, I wasn't lying! <em>I knew I wasn't. I had put up a defense that meant I repelled the water. _Why wasn't it working now?_ I looked around in panic.

"No wait, I-I-promise!" I blurted, dunking my hand into the water.

"Tell us what's really going on. Stop this right now!" Mum got up from her seat and tried to yank my arm away from the water.  
>I resisted her strength and focused my mind, diving into the complete silence that I found just before a race. Drowning her out, I kept my hand firmly placed at the bottom of the sink. Water splashed from the sides, more water than I'd filled the sink with in the first place, it was pouring out of the bowl like there was a leaking pipe. There was an inch of water coating the floor and my mother's trousers were almost completely soaked through.<p>

When I pulled my hand out, a triumphant smile pulling at the corners of my mouth, my sleeve and skin were completely dry.

"Explain that."


	4. Chapter 4 - Incredible

Chapter Four: Incredible

Suffice to say my parents believed me after that. When they said everyone was special I bet they didn't have this in mind. I could still see their faces clearly when I left the room. The shock, the horror, and more importantly the look that told me they didn't know how to deal with it whatsoever.

Neither did I. Even if there were others like me, which I'd doubted, I bet they didn't tell anyone about their powers. I had just let practically my whole school know.

When it was time for dinner, my parents called me down. They'd put my water in a closed bottle rather than in a glass, and I had to hold in a bark of laughter. At least they were trying.

"Lula, we're going to try and talk to someone about this."

"Dad, who do you think's going to know what's going on?"

"There have been some rumors over the past couples of years. This isn't the weirdest thing to happen in New York."

"Wait, you mean to say there are others like me?"

"Not exactly, but your mother and I have been doing some research and there have been some unexplainable incidences in schools all over the country these past few years."

"But how come I've never heard about it? Why are you just telling me now?" I unscrewed the lid from the water bottle.

Dad watched the water bottle intently. I noticed there were no other drinks on the table. "We think they've tried to keep it as quiet as possible, you can imagine the kind of uproar if the press found out about kids like you."

"_Kids like you," _felt like a stab in the chest, but considering how they had taken the news not four hours before hand, I could barely believe how they were talking to me now. Like I said, they would support me through anything, and now I needed them more than ever.

"And we're only telling you now, because we've only just found out too." Mum smiled. This time it wasn't quite so strained.

"I need to find them," I mumbled. My parents nodded absentmindedly and where silent for the rest of the evening.

School would just be another hell. Toby would bug me for ages until l gave him all the details about my underwater experience. I wouldn't expect any less from the school newspaper to have already reported on my new record. I decided to just get to school early, hide out in the bathrooms and then head straight to class. If I turned up late, I'd have to deal with everybody staring at me when I walked in, and I wasn't ready for that kind of attention yet.

As soon as I reached the school gates I saw Toby stood by the building's entrance, waiting for me.

I bit back a smile at how easy it was to predict his movements.

"So I was doing some research," Toby started the second I was on the same step as he was.

"Hi Toby," I interrupted.

"Yeah, anyway, I was doing some research last night and I found out that-"

Again I cut him off. "Other strange things have been happening recently."

"Yeah!" He exclaimed. "How did you guess?"

"You're not the only one that's able to use a search engine. I have a computer too, you know." I raised an eyebrow at the papers he was pulling out of his backpack.

"Well, there's been some seriously freaky stuff. I printed the best ones." I tried to take them from him, but he ignored my outstretched hand, crouched to the floor and organized them into two piles. "This stuff is for my personal collection," he mumbled, and shoved the papers back in his bag. "I was also wondering if I could interview you?"

"You're not selling my story." I flipped through the sheets.

_Earthquake attacks. Is Bayville on a fault line? _

_Unexplained red flash saves school bus from being crushed. _

_Unidentified footprints near the water tower, is Bigfoot to blame?_

"What the…"

"Weird right? You wouldn't believe the trouble I went through to find these things. I tried looking online but found almost nothing. Only that one about Bigfoot."

"Probably just some animal escaped from the zoo." I pushed my weight against the doors and we strolled through the corridor together. Toby was still gushing about the news reports.

"But then I went to the library archives and found all of the old copies. But I found the weirdest thing." We'd come to a stop at my locker. When I opened it up, the training schedule I had taped to the inside stared right back at me. I tore it down and crumpled it into a ball. I wouldn't need it anymore. There was no way I could swim in public after yesterday.

"Are you going to tell me?"

Toby was transfixed by the screwed up piece of paper in my hands.

"Your swimming schedule…"

"I don't need it." I shrugged. "Tell me about this weird thing."

"There were ripped pages."

"You think someone's trying to hide something?" I elbowed him.

"Of course." His serious tone sobered me up.

"So you really believe all this stuff, huh? The stuff from your comic books."

Toby adjusted his glasses and looked me straight in the eye. He reached out for my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "How can I not believe it when you're standing right in front of me, Lula? It's incredible."

I winced.

"See?" His shoulders dropped a few inches. "You have this amazing power and you're not even excited by it!"

"Keep your voice down!" The halls had started to fill up with other students. The noise level was at an ultimate high – everyone talking about yesterday's incident, I guess. Time seemed to have escaped our grasp and classes were just about to start.  
>"Oh, please. People have been talking about yesterday practically the whole time since it happened. You should have been there for the aftermath."<p>

"No thanks, I'm glad I skipped that party." Toby closed my locker, and we headed to physics. "I'm not excited by it because I don't think it's that amazing."

"How could you not?" He looked like I had personally insulted him.

"I can breathe underwater, so what?"

"So that's awesome!"

"It wouldn't be so awesome, if _you _were the one that couldn't get in the shower this morning."

"Is that what I smell?" He pinched his nose and waved a hand in front of his face.

I laughed, punched him in the shoulder and followed him into the classroom.

The first thing that hit me was the fact that there was already a girl sat in my seat. Physics was assigned seating. Toby looked at me in panic, I was supposed to be his lab partner.

"Excuse me?" He walked over to the girl and tapped her on the shoulder.

She turned around, her ponytail bouncing.

"Hi!" she beamed, showing off her perfectly straight teeth that were as white as her pearl earrings.

"Um, sorry but my friend sits there."

I gave an apologetic shrug and moved so that I was in front of the desk, because it might have been a bit too territorial if I'd put my books down.

"No problem. I didn't know it was assigned seating." Everything she said was punctuated with a smile. "But seeing as I'm new, would you guys, like, mind if I stuck with you for a bit?"

"Sure, why not?" I kicked my bag under the table and took the seat that the new girl had just vacated.

"I'm Kitty, by the way."

"Lula. And this is Toby."

"Cool! So did you guys hear what happened yesterday? Totally weird right?"

Toby and I exchanged a glace.

"Totally," we muttered in unison.

"I think it's awesome actually." I caught Toby looking at me in my peripheral vision, and he looked pretty happy with himself.

Kitty nodded in agreement.

"Alright class, settle down, settle down. Mr. Andrews, if you wouldn't mind putting electronics _away._" Professor Landrine took his place at the head of the classroom. "Today we're going to be looking at velocity under water."

_Looks like this is just going to be one of those days. _


	5. Chapter 5 - Similar

I didn't touch the experiment. I never normally did, but that was because Toby geeked out and refused to let me help him. This time was different. I physically couldn't do anything. I sat back in my seat and focused on writing down the results, even copying them up in Toby's book as he seemed to be doing an experiment of his own.

When I turned round to draw out the table Mr. Landrine had just put up on the board Toby used a pipette to squeeze a drop of water onto the back of my hand.

"Hey! What are you doing?" I leapt from my seat, cradling my hand to my chest.

"Its just water," Toby taunted, an innocent smile played across his lips.

"Exactly," I hissed. It was only a tiny droplet, but my skin hadn't absorbed it, when I shook my hand it fell onto Toby's notebook and smudged the title of the lesson.

Kitty watched silently as the two of us continued to joke with each other. I'd almost forgot that she was sat with us, but I did notice the beaker of water that she'd just tipped over – and from my viewpoint it looked like she'd done it on purpose. Her head was turned to look at the board, but one eye was trained on the glass container, her elbow too precise in its movement.

The water rolled across the table, it was already dripping off the sides and had flooded the rest of Toby's notes.

"You kidding me?" He stopped what he was doing and went to go grab some paper towels. The next minute or so happened in slow motion. The partners working next to us that had gone to another table to compare results had left their experiments on the counter top. I knew what was happening a second too late. It was as if some invisible force had knocked over the beakers, the glass hit the tabletop leaving cracks across the rims and the water rushed towards me. With the water that had already been spilled on the table, as soon as it joined the echoes of the water's tracks it came rushing right back towards Toby's textbook. And me.

Kitty made no attempt to grab the papers scattered over the desk, but her eyes widened and when I looked down at my hands I realized why.

I'd stopped the water.

By throwing my hands out I had stopped all water within a thirty-centimeter radius. It didn't move, but it did curve upwards as if there really were a barricade stopping it.

I quickly flashed a glance in Kitty's direction, and she was nodding her head slowly. Luckily, no one else had seen the incident as they were all far too occupied by the mini whirlpools the teacher was making by shaking a two litre bottle.

"I have to go to the bathroom." Keeping one hand still outstretched, I scooped my work of the table and put in on my seat. The water began to move in the opposite direction, towards Kitty, who was looking more and more excited by the second.

"Me too."

Toby turned round and looked at the water that was spreading across the table. His eyes asked me if I was okay, and my furrowed eyebrows told him the answer was pretty obvious.

Kitty was already at the door and was holding it open for me, giving me no choice but to follow her.

"Tallulah Avery," she announced when we were walking down the corridor to the girl's bathrooms. "That was incredible."

_Exactly what Toby said. _

"It was nothing."

"No. You stopped that water. I saw it with my own eyes." I'd quickened my pace so was forced to hurry too. I was at least five inches taller, and at that moment I was relieved by my longer stride.

"You saw nothing," I deadpanned.

"Don't play it that way, Tallu-"

"Wait, I never told you my full name. How do you know it?" I rounded on her.

"Oh," her toenails that had been pained with a glittery pink suddenly became the most interesting thing in world. "That's complicated."

"No, I'd say it's pretty _incredible _considering you're new in town."

"I'm not exactly _new._" Kitty grabbed my wrist and pulled me into an empty English classroom. "Look, this is going to sound really weird…"

"Nothing's weird at the moment." I avoided her stare.

"I know how you feel, trust me. But it gets better."

"How do you know how I feel? I've got this...this power and I can't control it!"

"Don't accuse people of things when you don't know their side of the story." She pointed to her hand, motioning for me to watch it. And I did, but when she put her hand on one of the chair backs it sunk right through.

"It's called phasing. Kind of like what you can do in water, but opposite, I guess."

"B-b-but how?" I stammered, dragging my hand through my hair.

"The same way you can. I'm a mutant." She said it so casually. When I thought of mutants I could only conceive negative connotations. Kitty said it like it was a good thing, something to be proud of.

"I'm not a mutant."

"I think you proved that to be, like, _totally _wrong back there. And in the pool yesterday. You're a mutant Lula." Kitty pulled out the chair and swung her leg over, resting her chin on the back.

"You still haven't told me how you know my name."

She laughed. "That's the best part! The truth is, I'm not new."

"Really, I hadn't guessed?"

"Geez, Wolverine will _love _you…" she grumbled under her breath. "I was sent here by Professor X to convince you to join us at the Institute," she said at a normal decibel.

"Institute? That doesn't sound very friendly."

"But it really is! You have to agree to go back there with me. Professor X wants an immediate transferal. He already has everything sorted out with Bayville High. He can have you enrolled in two seconds! You just have to say yes."

_What would I be saying yes to? I'd lose my family, I'd lose my friends, what did I really have to gain? _

I voiced my concerns to Kitty and she just looked at me as if I was stupid.

"Seriously? That's what you're worried about?"

"Well yeah!"

"It's not like parents can't visit! You can see them, like, every weekend. Just so long as you approve visits of course. And as for," she paused and looked over my shoulder. "Toby."

I followed her gaze and noticed he was waiting outside the classroom. I could see through the glass that he had his ear pressed against the door. His muffled voice passed through the wood. "Busted."

"He can visit too. He already knows about you, and I don't think the Prof would want to wipe his memories."

Toby leapt up onto the desk and swung his legs like a little boy. "I'd never tell anyone."

"Forgive me for saying that's slightly hard to believe."

"Lula, I've been your best friend since forever, therefore I'm not going to spill your secrets, haven't you worked that out by now?"

"You're right. Okay, so what happens if I agree to meet this Professor?"

"Well, he'll have to talk to your parents, but you can probably come and see the Institute for yourself by tomorrow."

"And after that?"

"You become part of the X-Men." Kitty couldn't stop herself from smiling, and neither could I.


	6. Chapter 6 - Family

Chapter Six: Family

In the beginning my parents were completely opposed to the idea. Kitty told me that was pretty normal and her parents had reacted the exact same way. The 'Professor' couldn't make the trip to talk to them in person, but the phone call had lasted just over an hour.

I'd resigned from my high school that afternoon. They'd thought I was completely crazy, but when they saw that I had a new school all lined up they patted my shoulder and said things like, 'We'll be sorry to see you go."

Coach didn't even know I was moving, and heartless as it was I had no desire to be the one to tell her that their lead swimmer was quitting the team. At least she could reside in the comforting fact that I wouldn't be joining Bayville's team. They wouldn't even have to compete with me next year.

_I hope Crystal likes my place at the top. _

Toby was way more excited that I was – as usual. He'd helped me pack my stuff and even given me some of his comics, so that I could 'get some ideas.' There were already plans in place for him to come and see me on the weekend, if I wasn't too busy. My parents would be able to come to, but I think the denial of what was happening still hadn't quite washed away.

I didn't know what to expect when saying the goodbyes. I certainly didn't expect the tears. Not just from Mum, but from me. I think even Dad shed a couple, not that he'd let me see. They hugged me so tight, I felt bad about pushing them away so much. Now I'd have to deal with not having them there at all.

Kitty reassured that I'd be a part of a new family.

A _mutant _family.

So much for all teens just trying to be normal.

A sleek black car had been arranged to pick us up. Inconspicuous was not the word I would use to describe our mode of transportation. It wasn't a very long journey, about forty-five minutes. To think that there were other people like me in that short distance was insane, especially considering we hadn't heard anything about it until yesterday.

I so wanted somewhere that I could fit it, I don't even think I managed to hold in all of my excitement. I'd planned to play it cool. You know, glacial expression, hands-on-hip attitude. But when the car pulled up in front of the biggest and most beautiful building I had ever seen I couldn't bring myself to do it. My chin had dropped to the floor and Kitty practically had to drag me up the steps. She jumped around a little bit and insisted that she go ahead first so she could open the door for me.

I didn't need any grand gestures when I got a glimpse of the foyer in front of me. The large curving staircase that led off into the two wings of the house was ridiculously impressive - it was even covered with red velvet carpet. This place shouldn't be called the Institute; it should be called the Palace. There were podiums lining the hallway topped with busts of people I didn't recognize. The curtains behind me were a deep plum and covered the windows that ran from floor to ceiling.

I didn't want to touch anything.

"Welcome home," Kitty clapped her hands together and grabbed my suitcase. "Jean! We're back!" she called.

A girl with flowing red hair appeared at the top of the stairs. Her bracelets and rings chimed as she held the rail and descended.

"Welcome to the Institute, Lula. I'm Jean Grey." Jean was strikingly beautiful. She was model height, and had the greenest eyes I'd even seen. They complemented her long fiery hair perfectly. "It's great to meet you, the Professor has told us all about you."

"Uh, okay?" Was all I could say when I finally found my voice.

"Hey, Jean?" The new tone belonged to a guy with hair the color of dark chocolate and red tinted sunglasses. "Oh, there you are." He radiated in Jean's presence. "Is this the new girl?"

I wrinkled my nose and gave an awkward wave, a little overwhelmed by just how normal every one looked. But what was I expecting?

"You must be Lula," a soft but deep voice sounded behind me. When I turned round to see who it was I was looking at, I was staring right into the eyes of a blue gorilla man. I made a strangled noise and jumped five feet into the air.

The man only laughed. "I'm Beast."

_No kidding? _I laughed nervously. "Lula."

He extended a hand and I shook it, hoping not to seem any ruder. "Sorry to scare you, I know it's something to get used to, but we all have our gifts."

"Talking about gifts, I've gotta run!" I watched Kitty retreat, she didn't have to bother opening any doors.

"Do you need me to take your stuff upstairs?" Shades asked me.

"I don't know where to put them…"

"Leave it to me, Jean can show you to your room after you've met with the Professor." He lifted my duffel bad effortlessly from my grasp and swung it over his shoulder. With his other hand he picked up my suitcase – which I thought weighed at least two tones – and carried that upstairs with him too.

Jean wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Come on, I'll take you to Professor Xavier."

I followed Jean down the hall and into an elevator. Beast said goodbye when the sound of glass breaking could be heard from somewhere else in the house. When the doors peeled open again we were in a cozy reception area. A fire was blazing in the hearth even though it was only mid morning, and plush cushions were littered all over the squishy red sofas.

"Ah, Lula. So lovely to finally meet you." A man in a wheelchair swiveled round to face us. "Please," he motioned to the armchairs closest to the blaze. I sat down obediently and placed my hands on my knees so I wouldn't fidget.

"Good morning Professor," Jean pronounced graciously. "Shall I leave you two alone?"

"It's alright, Jean. Why don't you stay?"

"Of course." Jean nodded and perched on the arm of my chair.

"Firstly, Lula, welcome to the Institute, it's wonderful to have you among us. You're probably wondering what all this is. I doubt Kitty told you much." From any one else it would have sounded like an angry remark, but coming from the Professor he said it with affection.

"Not really…"

"Well then. You are here, at the Institute, to learn how to control your powers. We have the most advanced technology in America; it was what brought you here. Cerebro identified that you possessed the mutant gene, which is what alerted us to your whereabouts."

"Cerebro," I repeated.

"Yes, it is how we have found all of our team, who I am sure you will have the pleasure of meeting very soon." He shared a look with Jean who grinned.

"So, are you able to tell me more about my power?"

The Professor laced his fingers together. "The majority of that is up to you, Tallulah. What we can tell you is that your skin seems to have become hydrophobic. So much so that you can even stop water and create a breathable space when you come into contact with it."

"But why now?" I asked.

"The gene doesn't become active for everyone at the same stage in their life. The dormancy period is different in every case. It could have just as easily awoken two years from now or two weeks ago. However, competing in that race might have been a trigger moment that set off the mutation before you were ready, but it would have shown itself eventually."

"I guess the sooner the better."

"I'm not sure everyone here will agree, but you will come to learn all of that in time. As for now, I think that's enough. We'll begin your training tomorrow." He looked over at Jean expectantly.

"I can show you were to go," she gave my shoulder a quick squeeze.

"Ororo, I do believe, will be running the session tomorrow – so you'll be focusing on teamwork."

"You're lucky we're not under the instruction of Wolverine, it's much more intense, and he won't be nice just because you're new." Jean noticed how scared I must have looked, because she added, "Trust me, it's not half as bad as you think it's going to be."

"We might have to add some more weaponry. Now that you're here, we will have to acquire a few water based attack systems, but all in good time." He wheeled over to the elevator and pushed the button for us. "For now, welcome to the family."

Just before the elevator doors closed on Jean and I he seemed to remember something. "You'll need to pick a codename."

I didn't have any ideas, but I knew just the person to ask.


	7. Chapter 7 - Source

Chapter Seven: Source of Power

Jean showed me to my room. Shades had already put my bags down on the bed and as soon as Jean left to let me unpack I grabbed my phone and called the one person who would want to know what was happening.

"I'm so glad you called!"

"Toby, I need to ask you something."

"Sure, Lula, what do you need?"

"Well, I have to have a codename, I think it's a security thing, and I thought you might have some cool ideas."

"Aquatica," he said immediately.

"Aquatica?"

"Aquatica."

"How long have you been thinking about this?"

"The second you got out of that pool." I could hear the smile in his voice. "You gave me some ideas for a new comic, and when I started to sketch stuff out the name just kinda came to me."

"You were drawing me?" I laughed.

"Not exactly, but there are some similarities." I wished I could have seen them, he'd shown me some of his work before and I always loved flipping through the inked pages. He was actually a really great artist, but I never thought he would draw me.

"Wouldn't it be a little weird if I just stole her name like that?" I asked skeptically.

"Lula, she basically is you…well, a little bit…okay maybe a lot. I came up with that name for you to use," he blurted out in a rush.

"Aquatica," I tested the name on my tongue. "The more I say it, the more I like it. So when will I get to see your new piece of artwork?"

"As soon as I've finished lining it."

"And you're sure you don't mind?"

"Absolutely."

"Okay, well, thanks Toby it really means a lot. Hopefully it will fit with the other codenames. Wouldn't want to look like a dork or anything," I laughed uneasily.

"You look nothing like a dork. Trust me, I know from experience."

As always Toby managed to lighten my mood, I found myself actually waiting in anticipation for the first training session, even though I had no idea what to expect. Training for me meant fifty laps of the pool, and unsurprisingly I didn't think it was going to be the same thing.

"I have to go now, Lula. But I'll call you tomorrow, okay? Tell me how it all goes."

"Sure, Toby. I'll talk to you soon."

"Bye!" He ended the call, and as soon as he did I felt a little bit of the loneliness creep back in. When someone knocked at the door the tightness ebbed away and I called for them to come in.

"I heard we had a new recruit! Hallo, I'm Kurt." The boy stood in front of me was about my height. He wore a watch across his wrist and had black hair with a blueish tint and bangs that fell across his face. I felt slightly ashamed of myself when my next thought was: _Wow, the guys around here are pretty cute. _

"I'm Tallulah, but call me Lula."

"I thought you might need a tour of the Institute." He slouched against the doorframe, and ran a hand through his hair.

"That would actually be really nice." I shoved my phone back in my bag and joined Kurt in the hallway.

"You should be glad it's me giving you the tour. Scott would make it _way _boring!"

"Who's Scott?"

Kurt closed my door with a "leave it open and you'll be sorry tomorrow," and turned to look at me in disbelief. "What? You haven't met Scott? I thought he'd be all over this. New Recruits are a rarity. So who have you met?"

"Kitty was the one at my old school, and Jean took me to the Professor. Then there was this blue guy and-"

"That's Beast, and don't go knocking the blue. Chicks dig the fuzzy dude." He pressed a button on what I thought was his watch and his skin changed to a blue fur, and his eyes lost their pupils. Before I got a good look at him there was a flash, a warped noise and he disappeared from sight only to reappear a few meters down the hall. "Transportation," he said it like it was nothing.

I'd momentarily lost the power of speech, which I had a feeling was going to happen a lot hanging around with other mutants. Kurt slung an arm around my shoulders like we'd been friends forever, and walked me to the stairs. "You see, Lula, I'm the leader of the X-Men. Don't be fooled by my charm or good looks. I'm actually a really fun gu-"

"Kurt?" I pulled him out of his personal ad and pointed to the top of the staircase where Shades now stood waiting, arms folded over his chest, with one eyebrow raised suspiciously.

"Kurt, are you telling lies to the new recruits again?" he asked sternly.

"No way! I was just telling Lula how you're the leader of the team. Lula, this is Scott."

"We met downstairs." He grinned.

"What? You got to the newbies first _again_?"

"It's sorta my job," he scoffed.

"Thanks for taking my bags, Scott."

"Hey, no problem. Do you want to come and meet the rest of the team? I have them waiting downstairs."

I didn't quite feel like I was ready to meet every one just yet. Can't have too much of a good thing, right? But I reminded myself it would just happen eventually and best to get all of the questions out of the way in one go. So I nodded and was led down the beautiful staircase and another hallway lined with oil paintings, until we got to a large mahogany door. Kurt teleported from the landing so was already waiting inside when Scott opened the doors to reveal the rest of my new family.

The other mutants were lounging around on the sofas or spread out across the carpet planning strategies for their next training exercise. I counted ten people, some of which I guessed were the tutors.

Jean had saved a seat for me and waved me over when she spotted us lingering in the doorway. Kitty was sat on the other side of the space and when I sat down she gave me the biggest smile she could manage.

"Hey, Lula. It's going to be so fun having you around here!"

"Like we needed another person to share the bathroom with, Jean takes long enough." A girl with white bangs grumbled from her spot on the window seat. She wore chunky black boots, leather gloves and a long-sleeve top made of green tulle over a black crop top. Her lips were lined with purple lipstick that matched her eye shadow, she looked menacing and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little intimidated.  
>"That's Rogue," Kitty whispered. "I knew you'd like her!"<p>

I made a nervous noise in the back of my throat and had to cough to not look like a weirdo in front of the other so-called 'freaks'. Nothing about them made them seem strange, at least not from the outside – they all looked like normal humans beings. Okay, besides the fact that Rogue was seriously rocking the goth girl vibe, Kurt was actually furry and one of the instructors was completely blue.

_I wonder what their stories are? _

"So, Lula," Jean began. "Tell us more about your powers, if you feel comfortable that is."

"Yeah, man, I read about it on your school's website. Ten minutes under water! That's seriously tight." The guy had previously been talking to Kurt. He had blonde hair that had been shaved into two sections and his trousers were hanging far lower than I thought possible.

"Evan!" Kitty glowered.

"Hey, how I see it we got our powers in pretty similar ways." He shrugged. "She gets competitive and suddenly she's a water bender and I get competitive and then I'm The Spyke Man."

"The…Spyke Man?" I asked worried what that meant.

"Yeah, watch this." His brown eyes sparkled as he balled his hands into fists and jerked his arms out causing spikes to burst from his skin. "Cool, huh?"

I thought creepy was more of the way to describe it, but I wasn't about to get critical on someone else's powers, so I just nodded. When he flurried his arms in a 'ta-da' motion a couple of the spikes shot out and Scott had to duck to avoid being skewered. Jean put her fingertips to her temples and the spikes stopped in mid-air, momentarily frozen before they clattered to the ground.

"Try not to do it in the house, eh, Spyke?" Scott came over to Jean and rubbed his hands across her shoulders and down her upper arms. Kitty squealed next to me and nudged my elbow just in time for me to turn and notice how the couple were looking at each other.

Kurt coughed, and the two diverted their attention back to me. "So, Lula, what's your power?" Scott asked.

"I think the Professor said something about being hydrophobic."

"I've seen it!" Kitty gushed. "It was amazing!"

"Sounds…powerful," Rogue mused. She finally stopped filing her nails and looked at me for the first time.

"What can you do?" I felt brave for asking. I wasn't about to let this girl control me for the rest of my time here. My nervousness melted away as I forgot about everything else and focused on the girl who had squared off in front of me.

"My power is your power."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Do you want to find out?" she taunted.

"Okay!" Kurt clapped his hands together and my concentration was broken. "Not that I don't dig a good cat fight, but I really want to know more about Lula's power."

"Whatever." Rogue stood up and stalked out the room.

"You, like, just took on the Rogue," Kitty said in disbelief. "Your fists were all clenched-"

"-and you had this mad look in your eyes," Kurt finished.

"Oh, did I?"

"How interesting." Professor Xavier wheeled over to our group, having watched the whole encounter he addressed the room with his findings. The woman he had previously been talking to, the one with long white hair that she'd tied with a pretty scarf, Beast and a bulked out man with whiskers across his chin turned from their conversation and paid close attention to what the Professor had to say.

"It seems as though Tallulah has found where her power has come from. That concentration of your energy is probably what helped you to focus on your X gene."

"But I…" I started to protest, but he carried on.

"I know this must be strange for you, Lula. But that is a very powerful skill. Being able to completely lose yourself in your power can be dangerous and we will need to work on it. Jean and I can help you there." His serious tone was softened with a reassuring smile.

"It's what I do before I swim," I mumbled.

"It's an excellent starting position." He nodded. "I'd like to request that you join the training tomorrow morning. I wouldn't want you to miss out on Ororo's session."

The woman with the white hair looked kindly at the Professor and I.

"Great!" Kurt exclaimed. "Then we'll really see what you can do!"


	8. Chapter 8 - Change

Chapter Eight: Change

The rest of the day passed by in a blur. Partly because I just couldn't believe what was happening and how drastic the change was compared to my life only two days ago. It certainly didn't feel like two days.

I suppose in some ways it felt like it had been seconds. I can't imagine any one being able to adapt so quickly to a sudden change of location, especially with such little notice, but that was what I was planning to do. When you find out that you have super powers you have to change quickly.

It was pretty hard to take in, and I couldn't imagine how Evan had felt when he moved to the Institute. To be moved from your family, at what was essentially still quite a young age, must have been tough for him. At least he had his 'Auntie O.' I wasn't exactly the right person to lecture about leaving home when you're young. I was only seventeen. I thought I still had two years before I had to leave the safety and comfort of my parents' house behind.

After the evening meal - which had worked out pretty perfectly, actually, Jean had sat by me in a sort of protective way and I could really see why Kitty said it was a family – I had been guided back up to my new room. Luckily for me, the Professor didn't expect me to have memorized the layout of the house yet.

It's odd to admit, but I had felt quite lonely. Being an only child I'd had a room to myself my whole life, but being at the Institute was different, because there were other teens there. I would have happily shared with any of the girls, maybe not Rogue and I felt almost sorry for Kitty who was her room mate, it would have been nice to just talk to someone about it. I don't think I'd quite come to terms with it all, and sitting alone in an unfamiliar room made me realize just how much I would have to change.

I thought about calling Toby, but it was late and I'd already called him. As much as I could have done with his reassurance I didn't want to sound needy on my first day otherwise I'd never hear the end of it.

As Rogue had said, the bathroom was communal so I organized my toiletries on the shelf that had been labeled 'Lula.' They'd obviously prepared for my arrival.

I didn't want to sit in my room alone so I escaped to the bathroom. I left the door open so I could hear if any one was coming. Strange as it sounds, I felt normal sat on the tiled floor of the bathroom. It felt like a locker room; everyone had their own space, but there was a strange buzz that only came when you were working as part of a team. I ran the water just so that I could hear the echoes as each droplet filled the sink.

I missed the water. I'd never been out of it for this long. Training everyday had become the usual, but now I couldn't even touch the stuff. I tried to put my hands in the water like I had at home, but they just hovered above the surface, the barrier pushing down on the water causing some of it to spill.

I clenched my knuckles and pushed down as hard as I could. Nothing happened. I wanted to scoop the water into my palms and throw it into my face. I wanted to feel my hair wet, the ends dripping water onto the floor. I wanted to feel wet clothes suctioned to my skin. I wanted to hear the squelching sound of flip-flops on the poolside.

I wanted it so badly, but I'd never get it again.

I couldn't control my longing and a few angry tears slipped down my cheeks, not even leaving trails. I couldn't even cry properly anymore. My eyes didn't get red and puffy and my skin didn't go blotchy. In any other circumstances I would have been relieved, but I was horrified.

_Why me? _I sobbed, watching my tears as they slipped down the invisible barrier and pooled on the outskirts of my hydrophobic shield.

A door slammed somewhere down the hall and the sound of slippers padding across carpet got louder and louder. I thought by leaving the door open I would be able to save myself from awkward encounters, but I'd left little time to collect my thoughts and escape back to the room that didn't feel like my room.

"Oh, it's you." Rogue leant in the doorway. "I just wanted a glass of water." She didn't need to explain herself. If she gave me her reason she was probably expecting mine.

"Couldn't sleep." It wasn't exactly a lie.

"Sure," she wiped away my response with a flip of her hand. "It's always hard the first night." She grabbed the glass that was on her shelf and moved to the sink. She scoffed. "Experimentin'?" Her light southern drawl had previously slipped under my radar.

"Hoping is more like it."

"So you can't touch it at all?"

I leant forward in attempt to get up and the water that was restricted by my shield moved back as if being pushed.

"Right." Rogue jumped up onto the counter and swung her legs back and forth.

"I managed to break the surface yesterday, but I can't seem to do it now." I tried to make sure my voice didn't crack. I didn't want to seem weak in front of the other mutants. Trying and failing to touch the water had lit a match in my mind and the fiery anger had started to spread through my body. I could feel it like a pulse in the air, it fueled the barrier, but I couldn't calm down. I couldn't drown it out.

Rogue saw the change just as she had earlier. "It's okay," her voice lost a bit of its harshness. Just a bit. "I know what you're going through."

"Really?" Anger colored my tone, and I tried to keep it under control. I really had changed, anger had never been apart of who I was, just the determination to win. When my powers emerged it was like my personality had mutated too.

"Why do you think I have to wear these gloves all the time?" Even though she was in her green and orange pajamas she still wore her gloves. "I can't touch anyone or they black out and I absorb their memories. And if they're a mutant: their power."

"Intense." My anger started to ebb away and I could feel myself smiling. A silence settled around us, not exactly comfortable, but I didn't feel as threatened as the others suggested I should when talking to Rogue.

"Look, this isn't really my style," Rogue began. "But if there's one thing that I've learned from being here, it's that these guys are here to help. And as hard as it is to believe at first, they do actually care about you."

I nodded, looked up and saw something like regret pass over Rogue's features.

"The quicker you learn it the better." Her voice was barely a whisper and I had to strain my ears just to hear. She pulled the plug in the sink and the water drained quickly, then she filled her glass and moved to leave. "Go back to bed, Tallulah."

"I-I…can't," I stammered.

"Why not?"

"I feel too trapped." Painful as it was to admit it in front of this girl, we really were alike in a lot of ways.

Rogue let out a short laugh, and spent a minute in silence, thinking of how to say what she did next, "The others will probably freak out about this, but…" she shook her head in disbelief. "I'll see if I can get the Professor to organize a room change. Kitty can room with Amara."

"You mean-"

"Hey. Don't think I'll make exceptions for you all the time. Just this once, all right? And you better tell everyone it's 'cause you begged me."

I smiled. "Thanks, Rogue."

"Don't mention it. Seriously. Don't." She gave me a little wave before walking back to her room. Once I'd mopped up the floor – by that I mean once I'd chucked a ton of towels on the floor – I went back to my room.

I didn't feel as lonely as I did before. If Rogue could change for the better, if only for a second, then I knew I could to.


	9. Chapter 9 - Control

Chapter Nine: Control

"Tallulah," the Professor's voice drifted down the hall, as I was just about to run down the stairs to breakfast. I turned in the direction of his voice but there wasn't anyone there, and I couldn't hear the telltale signs of his wheelchair gliding across the carpet. "Tallulah, your presence has been requested at the back of the Institute." After a few seconds of pure confusion I spotted the little speaker next to a security camera that was situated above one of the doors further down the hall. The message repeated itself over and over again. "Requested at the back of the Institute. Tallulah requested at the back of the Institute."

My first thought was that Toby would freak out once he found out that the whole place was bugged. The second thing that ran through my mind as what had to be at the back of the Institute, and just how much I seriously _didn't _want to go there.

"Alright everyone! Today we have our New Recruit joining us for our morning training exercise. Yes, it is early. Yes you _will _be doing it anyway," Beast smiled at the bunch of mutants lined up along the outside of the pool. It was Olympic sized with five diving boards all at different heights for either the skilled, or the ridiculously brave – or maybe stupid. I'd gone down to the training session, fully aware that this was the 'pool session' I had been looking forward to so much, without a swimsuit. Unfortunately, that didn't stop them. They'd handed me my New Recruits outfit and pointed me in the direction of the outhouse.

Great.

"Nice outfit," Kitty snickered. I looked down at the plain black body suit, and gave a shrug. Kitty just winked, and struck a pose to model her suit with the purple front. "If you join the main team you can get something a little more…personalized." Kitty nodded in Rogue's direction who was looking pretty bored at the end of the line. Her shoulders were covered with thick metal plates.

"Right," I muttered.

"Uh oh. Wolverine." Kurt, who was on my other side, elbowed me in the ribs.

"You're in for a treat, Lula!" Kitty stifled a giggle.

"And I really thought we had Storm and Mr. McCoy today." The voice belonged to a guy that was currently a moving ice sculpture.

"I heard that Bobby!" Logan's deep voice resonated over the water; it was so loud he almost sent ripples across the pool. "Half-pint, Elf, Red." He waved Jean over, and I swear I saw Scott's eyebrows furrow for a second. "You're teaching Squirt the ropes."

_Squirt. _How original.

"Today we're going to be doing laps. Imagine there are severe water rapids and you have to get across, no matter what."

"But the water's still."

"Oh. Thank you, Bobby, for kindly pointing that out to me, I hadn't noticed!" Logan gave him a pointed look. "But seeing that you can't 'imagine' the rapids I guess we better get some real ones." He pressed a button on a remote I hadn't noticed he was holding and suddenly fans started whirring and the waves started churning.

_Even better. _

The water rapids were met by sighs of "Bobby!" and "every time!"

"Quiet!" Wolverine roared over the chatter that rippled across the teenagers. "One. By. One." He smirked, and with each word the noise level decreased. "A test of strength, will power and entertainment for me." Wolverine chuckled to himself. "Questions?"

"What if we don't make it?" Everyone turned to see who dared to question the Wolverine. A young boy stepped forward from the line up, and then sixteen duplicates joined him.

Mr. Logan turned to the boy and answered with, "not an option. If you fail, the next person that goes in has to rescue you. Are we clear?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Everyone shouted in unison.

"Wonderful. Summers! You're up." Scott walked round to where Wolverine pointed and executed an _almost_ perfect swan dive into the pool. His stokes where powerful, but he lost speed whenever he had to breathe. Which was pretty much every other stroke.

"His breathing pattern is all wrong," I whispered.

"What's that?" Kitty lent back so her ear was closer to my mouth.

"Nothing."

"Too easy for you, Summers?" Wolverine jeered and pressed another button making the rapids more powerful and aggressive. They hit his side skewering his angle, but Scott pushed forward and in two minutes had made it to the other side of the pool.

"Red, you're up next."

Jean stepped forward, but when she got to the edge of the pool she edged backwards and took her dive at a run. It was a sloppy way of building power, I'd seen some kids try it at the local pools; it normally ended in uncontrolled strokes.

Just as I'd predicted as soon as Jean had broken the surface of the water, she lost precious seconds trying to figure out which way to swim. Her entry meant that her orientation was off, but eventually she managed to pull herself through the water. Her stoke was the frog, which wasn't exactly a powerful stroke, especially when dealing with rapids, but it gave her the control she needed. Jean's attempt was a lot slower than Scott's, but she made it nonetheless, and Wolverine didn't antagonize her when she pulled herself out of the water.

"Rahne!"

A girl with extremely pale skin smattered with freckles stepped up to the edge of the pool. Her hair was tied on the top of her head in two small bunches. She also took a running jump but quickly tucked herself into a ball and crashed into the water. She emerged laughing, whilst performing the doggy paddle. For some reason this made all of the mutants laugh and cheer. After showing off she hit the rapids and the waves came up and over her head. She was being held underwater for longer than the amateur swimmer was used to and when she was able to come up for air she choked on the chlorinated water for a second before she was being pinned back by another rapid.

"Mr. Logan, do something!" Kitty shouted from the sidelines, but he waved her off.

After a minute of Rahne being held underwater she broke the surface, but instead of the girl I was expected a bronze dog emerged and howled until she reached the other side of the pool. As soon as the dog hauled itself out of the water it phased back into an out-of-breath Rahne.

"Okay Half-pint show me what'cha got." Wolverine called over to Kitty and beckoned her to the stage.

"I'm really not that great at swimming, you know?"

"No, but I'm about to find out."

Kitty shivered as she raised her arms and prepared herself for the dive. I sucked in a breath and counted to three, on one Kitty jumped into the water and struggled to stay above the surface. Unlike Rahne she didn't have a get out of jail free card and her strength was all over the place. One leg was kicking as hard as it could, but her upper body strength wasn't enough to get her through the harsher waves once she got to the middle of the pool. A tidal wave of water surged towards Kitty and she made the mistake of opening her mouth to scream. She immediately took in too much water and the shock of what was happening sent het to the bottom of the pool. The fans were located closer to the bottom so the pull of the water would be even worse down there. The recruits started to panic when she hadn't surfaced after almost a minute.

"Nobody move!" Wolverine barked out the order and ran to the middle of the pool - where Kitty had managed to swim too. The water was almost at it's deepest at that point so I knew it would be hard to make out her flailing figure. Her black suit didn't help with underwater visibility. Logan looked around in panic before he started shouting things into his watch. "The button's jammed" being one of the things I could make out among the noise. He then proceeded to order the new recruits to get help. Jean ran along the other side of the pool and pressed her fingertips to her temple. She let out a growl when her powers weren't working, but she had managed to dull the force of the waves.

"Lula! You have to do something!" Kurt spun me out of my frozen position, grabbed my shoulders and shook me.

"I can't!" I protested.

"Yes. You can!" He started pushing me towards the water until I felt my heels knock against the edge. "You can do it." His voice suddenly became serious. He shoved me right in the chest and I fell back into the water. My eyes widened as my body came crashing through the water. I knew not to open my mouth, but I was in shock. I was in the water.

And I was wet.

My hair floated around me, and the chlorine stung my eyes. I made 's' shapes in the water with my hands just to marvel at the fact that they could slice through it. Then I became aware of Kitty.

I swam as hard as I could. Once I had held my breath as long as I could I opened my mouth and breathed out, compressing my lungs even further. My stomach clenched when I realized I couldn't, but needed to, breath. Panic ignited a flame inside my head and suddenly the water pushed out from around my body and I was once again in my impenetrable bubble. I sucked in a breath, and let myself sink to the bottom of the pool, where I would be able to run instead of swim. Running in water wasn't my strong point, but my shield seemed to reduce the water's resistance. I spotted Kitty collapsed just in front of me with her eyes closed. I maneuvered myself so I was crouched by her body, but my shield stopped me from getting any closer.

I took a few short breaths to calm myself and willed the bubble to expand around her. I had no idea that it would work, but some how it did. As soon as my pocket of air enveloped Kitty she sat up with a gasp. I had dried completely in my short time in the bubble, but Kitty was still soaking wet. Her hair fell in front of her eyes and her suit wrinkled around her body.

"You alright?"

"I guess so." She put her palm to her forehead and coughed aggressively. "Wait. Are we-?"

"At the bottom of the pool? Yes."

"Did you-?"

I cut her off again. "Create an impervious hydrophobic shield that can hold both of us?"

She nodded, dumfounded.

"Apparently."


	10. Chapter 10 - Communication

"Way to go, Lula!" Kurt cheered, once I'd broken the surface of the water holding Kitty in my arms. The bubble popped just as I was about to heave myself out of the water; the only part of my body that remained wet was my feet.

"Wow," Jean gushed, as she took Kitty from my arms. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"No, it is rather unusual."

"Professor!" The X-Men chorused as Professor Xavier rolled onto the scene. He held his hand out for Kitty, and she took it gently. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Lula saved me." She smiled.

"I think it best if you go to the hospital wing anyway, just to be sure. Ororo, would you mind taking Kitty upstairs, she may still be in shock."

Kitty didn't argue.

"Of course, Professor." Ororo who had dutifully followed the Professor outside, wrapped her arm around Kitty's waist and they walked together back into the Institute.

"I think it's Lula who's in shock, Professor." Kurt pointed down at me, curled up on the edge of the pool. All I could think was, _what if I hadn't been able to get to her?_

"Tallulah, thank you for saving Kitty. It was an extremely brave thing for you to do."

I wasn't about to tell him that Kurt had literally pushed me into it.

Jean sat down on the poolside next to me and looked at my kindly. "You did really well," she said sincerely. "It's okay."

"Professor, I was in the water. I could feel it, for a moment there I was completely absorbed."

"It's all in your control, Tallulah. Over time you will be able to decide whether your skin works as a repellent or not. It's something we can teach you. Something we can help you with. I hope today that you realize just how important that training is."

I nodded. Jean helped me up and then called over to Scott who was reassuring the other New Recruits that everything was going to be okay. Rahne had been particularly shaken up, after she had done so well. Wolverine looked over the scene with a mildly shocked expression. It wasn't one that I ever expected to see on his features.

"Professor, I think I should go and talk to the half pint," he said after sharing whispered words with Beast.

"Yes, I think that would probably be best. Give her a few minutes, I will join you shortly."

Logan retreated into the mansion, and the Professor addressed the remaining teens. "X-Men," his voice resonated. "You've faced an unknown challenge, and I am proud of how you handled yourselves. Panic in a time like this is not what we're looking for. You demonstrated your powers," he looked pointedly at Bobby who smirked and kept changing in and out of being a solid ice sculpture. "But I think we've had enough excitement for one day. Training will resume as usual tomorrow morning! New Recruits, you will be with Beast, for your weekly trip into the woods. X-Men please report to the training room at six a.m. Yes, Kurt, s_ix _in the _morning_," he added which got a few giggles.

I watched as Scott rushed over to Jean and scooped her into a hug. Kurt was looking around, so I asked him who he was looking for.

"Rogue."

I hadn't noticed she was even gone. "Does she usually disappear like this?"

He shrugged. "Usually."

I had a sneaky suspicion that I knew where she was. I'd have to ask her later, now that we were roommates.

Kurt fell into step beside me. "I would have rescued Kitty, you know, but I thought we should all see your power."

"Kurt!" I slapped him on the arm. "I wasn't ready. Haven't you ever heard the expression 'all in good time'?"

"Yes, but I had a feeling you'd work well under pressure."

I tried futilely to hide a smile. "Well, I guess I have to thank you then."

"Yes, yes you do!" He shot me a winning smile. "Last one in's a rotten egg!"

"Tallulah." Professor X came to a halt next to me, leaving Kurt to surge on ahead.

"Yes, Professor?"

"I'd like you to follow the X-Men and meet in the Training Room tomorrow. I'm sure Rogue will be able to show you the way."

"Professor, I-"

He laughed. "I heard about the room changes and I think it's going to be a lot better. Kitty and Rogue had a tendency to fight over the wardrobe space."

I echoed his laugh uneasily. "Are you sure I'm ready to train with the other X-Men? I haven't even been here for one day."

"I'm not normally wrong, Lula. And this is something I'm almost certain about. I don't offer this opportunity to anyone, you know, but you seem to be getting on extremely well with the other members of the team. The New Recruits would've loved to have you, I'm sure, but as you can see." He gestured over to the benches where a few of the New Recruits had stayed, sprawled in their swimming costumes. Bobby was attempting to freeze the water in the fountain, Amara chased Rahne around the fields and Jubilee was sparking fireworks at Roberto to try and make him flare. "I think you need a slightly more mature and experienced team to truly help you develop your powers." I scoffed at the word mature, and I knew we were both thinking of Kurt.

"Plus, very few people can actually talk to Rogue, and I'd hate to discourage such a friendship."

"Thank you, Professor."

"I'll see you tomorrow. Six o'clock. I trust that if Mr. Wagner is unable to rise then I can count on you to do something about it."

"I'm sure Kitty would love to help."

"I can't believe I have to be the new kid again."

"I sucks," Rouge looked up from painting her nails black to inspect the outfit I'd picked out for my first day at Bayville High School. Rogue had decided to move into my room, and after dinner, when she'd come to relocate her stuff, we found we'd been moved into a slightly larger room with two beds, and more importantly, two wardrobes.

I'd gone to visit Kitty after lunch, because the Professor said that she was still in shock we weren't allowed to visit her until then. She'd tried to thank me, but I shrugged it off. I didn't want her to know that I probably wouldn't have even gone into the water had Kurt not pushed me. She was allowed to go back to her room after dinner, so that she could get well acquainted with Amara, who she would now be sharing with.

Kurt had gone to visit Kitty with me, and he'd tried to make her laugh. Jean had brought up Kitty's toy dragon to leave on her bedside table. My suspicions about Rogue had been correct. When she'd disappeared she'd gone straight up to her room, and then to visit Kitty. She'd stayed by her side the longest, until Jean took over. I had a feeling that they were a lot closer friends than Rogue would care to admit. Sharing a room with someone had to count for something, even if they were complete opposites.

"At least I don't have to listen to her gaga conversations with Lance anymore."

"Who's Lance?" I'd asked, but she'd just rolled her eyes. Apparently I'd find out soon enough, which is how we'd got onto the topic of my new school.

I was scared to be going somewhere without Toby, we'd been in all of the same classes since Kindergarten. I felt like I needed him to get through the day, what was I supposed to do now that I could only see him on weekends and after school visits?

"Professor X probably tried to get you on the same schedule as one of us so you don't feel so alone. Just pray that you're not in any classes with Toad." She threw me a disgusted glance, and then raised her eyebrows at a black camisole I held up to the mirror. "That's kind of cute."

"You can borrow it if you want." After what the Professor had said I was determined to be good friends with Rogue, by the sounds of it I needed her just as much as she needed me. Kurt had whispered to me at lunch – which was just as eventful as breakfast - that she didn't really have any friends, and didn't like to hang out with the rest of them at school. Some past crush on Scott or something made her feel embarrassed. I wanted to change that, since I knew that training with the X-Men meant I would be spending a _lot _of time with them.

I saw a small smile flash across Rogue's face, but she didn't say anything else.

"What's it like? At Bayville, I mean."

"It's alright. If we're lucky then Scott will take us in his car, but it's first come first served now that one spot is permanently taken by Miss Jean Grey." I tried to find the hint of bitterness in her voice, but it was well disguised.

"And if we're not lucky?"

"Then it's the X-Mobile."

"Is that so bad?"

"When Logan drives."

"Eugh."

"Yeah, make sure you sit at the back, otherwise the rats in the New Recruits will listen to every word you say."

"Right. Let's try and hitch a ride with Scott then."

I thought I caught another hint of a smile when Rogue realized I'd been talking about us as a collective.

"Can you drive?" She asked, her attention returned to her nails.

"Yeah, but I haven't got a car."

"You can always borrow one of the ones from the garage, then we won't have to wait for anybody."

"You'll have to direct me there, okay?"

"You mean I get to sit shotgun?" She feigned excitement. "My gosh, never have I had this privilege."

I laughed. "We could offer to take Kitty and Kurt?"

Rogue didn't say anything for a second. "We'd just have to take The Spike Man too."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Not unless you actually want ripped leather seats and muddy foot wells. Done!" She held up her nails for inspection.

"Okay, it'll just be us then, we don't have to take _everyone_."

Rogue gave me the first real smile I'd seen from her all day. "Want me to do yours too?"


	11. Chapter 11 - Mistaken

Waking up at six a.m. is hard. Make that extremely hard. Especially when you know that you're waking up for a hardcore training session. Rogue informed me that even though it's early that doesn't mean they'll go easy on you.

I had to chuck a pillow at Rogue to make her wake up, and I don't think it did anything to improve her morning mood. "We best go quickly otherwise Kitty will think she can have a full hour in the bathroom."

"We don't even get breakfast first?" I asked, tugging on my New Recruits training suit.

"You sound like Kurt. Trust me, for what we're doing you're not going to want to have a full stomach."

I grumbled. We traipsed down the hall to our shared bathroom and found Jean brushing her teeth in front of the mirror. She'd laid out hand towels for the four of us – Amara had to now share with us too – and had filled the sink with warm soapy water.

"Good morning, Lula, Rogue."

"Hey. Is this one mine?" I pointed to the blue flannel and she nodded.

"They match our training costumes."

Rogue grabbed the forest green one and I noticed the grass green flannel on Jean's shelf.

I looked skeptically down at my plain suit. "Yeah. Matching."

Jean shared a look with Rogue.

"Where's Kitty? She's normally the first one in here."

"She went with Amara to wake up Kurt and Evan." She laughed, like it was something they had to do a lot.

"Six o'clock is pretty painful," I noted. "So what do we do in these sessions?"

Jean responded with the same "you'll see" as Rogue. It was all I could get out of her the night before. She said she wanted it to be a surprise. That, or she just wanted to watch me fail. I laughed uneasily.

Kurt trudged down the stairs with Evan in tow. Kitty slide down the banister, but Rogue stayed in step with me. Jean and Scott took up the rear and they were having a whispered conversation.

"They do that a lot," Rogue sighed when I tripped on a step and nearly fell down the whole flight, because I'd been trying to listen in.

Kurt lead us down the corridors until we came to another elevator, it was a lot larger than the one I had used to get to the Professor's office, ad everyone shuffled in.

"We really didn't need another person," Evan grumbled as he was pushed into a corner. "No offense, Lula."

"None taken," I replied, trying to angle my hip so that it wasn't being jabbed into by the handlebar that circled the interior.

Our boots clacked along the corridor until we reached what I thought was a dead end. Jean tapped my shoulder and pointed to an empty wall. "Those are the lockers, you should find your school bag and a change of clothes inside. Sometimes it's a bit of a rush to get to school after this," she explained.

_A rush to get to school? What do you mean we'll be doing this for an hour and a half? _

"Hello, X-Men. It's good to see that you could all make it this morning." Professor Xavier's voice echoed through the large metal hall that, by pressing a button, Scott had led us into.

I looked around until Kitty pointed at the ceiling and I saw a glass pod, inside sat Mr. Logan, Professor X and Ororo. But instead of her usual flowing skirt and white top, Ororo was wearing a suit just like ours. She had a long cape and her hair flew out around her. I did a double take when I saw what Mr. Logan was wearing. I guess they didn't call him Wolverine for nothing.

"Do they come down from there?" I asked.

"No, they just stay up there and watch. Storm contributes to the simulation sometimes, and Professor X will communicate with us if we're in trouble, and Mr. Logan is there for…well, let's just hope he doesn't come down because that means we're in _serious _trouble."

I nodded solemnly. Rogue had moved so that she was slightly further away from the group, but Jean and Scott were stood front and center.

"Are you ready, X-Men?" Professor X addressed us all.

"Yes, sir!" They replied in unison. My "yes, sir" was slightly out of sync leaving Kurt to whip round and shoot me an amused look. I widened my eyes at him and shrugged.

"Oh yeah. She's _definitely _new here."

"Five…four…three…"

"What is she counting down to?" I asked nervously. The voice was a woman's and it bounced around the hall. Kurt smirked.

"Two…one. Activating simulation sequence five."

A large metal blockade rose from the ground sealing off the exit. Similar metal walls lined themselves up, jutting out of one wall. They moved up and down leaving room for a recruit to roll underneath without getting crushed. If they could roll fast enough, that is.

Large cannons popped out of the walls and a large laser and disc shooter descended from the ceiling.

"Oh my-" but I couldn't finish my exclamation because Scott barreled into me, knocking me to the floor. He turned around and lifted his visor shooting infra red light at the flying disk that had almost hit me. Jean was floating above ground, with her fingers pressed firmly to her temples and she used her powers to hold the discs off of her teammates.

"Spyke! Now!" Scott yelled, jumping up from the floor, leaving me dazed. Evan looked determined and spikes erupted from his forearm, he threw his arm out like he was throwing a Frisbee and the spikes rocketed towards one of the cannons, disabling it.

Kurt grabbed me from the floor and with a puff of smoke we disappeared. I was frozen in shock when he put me in between two of the metal walls.

"Kurt! What the-"

"You can't call me that here. When we're in training you have to use the codenames."

"Right. Codenames."

"Nightcrawler," he prompted.

"Nightcrawler," I repeated.

He pointed at me. "You're Aquatica, remember?"

"Yes!" I'm Aquatica, and I could do this.

Kitty phased through the walls, running through them as if nothing was there, she gave me a little wave as she whooshed past.

"Look out!" She called, and a second later I realized what she meant. A large animatronic soldier was pounding his way through the walls after Kitty, it would only be a matter of moments before the soldier realized he could take a new target.

It's unseeing eyes rolled over me and I saw a red light flash as it assessed my threat.

Apparently, even though my powers were no good outside of water, he still assessed me as a good enough threat to attack. I screamed, but it was muffled by the sounds of Scott's laser eyes and Nightcrawler's teleportation. Rogue was screaming battle cries as she locked a soldier in hand-to-hand combat.

I was nowhere near ready for this.

"SHADOWCAT!" I screamed, and Kitty's head popped out from the wall behind me.

"Oh," she giggled when she spotted her animatron. "He likes you now too, eh?" She thrust her hands under my arms and we melted into the floor.

I struggled to hold in a scream as were resurfaced right in front of a disc cannon, but this time it wasn't throwing clay plates, but ninja stars. Jean stopped them inches before they sliced through our skin.

"Shadowcat!" Scott roared. "Disable the robots!"

"I'm on it! See you, Aquatica!" Once again I was left on the floor to watch as Kitty ran off and glided straight through the robots. They short-circuited and collapsed to the floor. Kurt whooped from the sidelines.

_Lula. _I looked around to see where the voice was coming from. I locked eyes with Professor Xavier. He closed his eyes and I heard his voice inside my head. _Work with your team, you can do it. _

_But, Professor, I don't have anything that could help them here. I-I'm not good enough. _

_Trust in yourself, Lula. _

_But they worked perfectly well as a team without me. What could I possible add?_

I could almost hear his sigh. _More than you realize at the moment, Tallulah. More than you realize. _

Rogue rammed her plated shoulder into one of the small laser bots that was following her and it faltered. I watched as she took off her gloves, touched Scott lightly as he ran past, and suddenly there was a red flash and the robot exploded.

Scott looked at her accusingly once he'd disabled his own robot. "Rogue, you need to let us know if you're going to do that!" The first thing I noticed was that suddenly Scott didn't seem so steady on his feet, and the second thing was that they called Rogue, well…Rogue. Did that mean it was just a codename?

Lightning crackled through the room and I looked up in astonishment to see Ororo floating high above the ceiling, the roof had opened out to reveal the sky which had clouded over dramatically. Clouds descended and swirled lower and lower until they obscured my vision so that I couldn't see my own hand in front of my face.

"STORM!" Kurt bashed into me, calling out Ororo's codename in panic. "She isn't part of simulation five!" He gripped my upper arms and gave me a little shake. Just when I started to feel dizzy a thick lashing of rain came pouring down from the heavens and Kurt slipped from my fingers. The floor of the training room had been coated with three inches of water in seconds, and since there was nowhere for the water to go it kept filling up.

"Aquatica!" Kurt shouted.

Panic started to rise in my bones, but I was rooted to the spot. Somewhere in my subconscious I knew that I could help, I knew that I could do something. Something that could prove my power was useful, but I had trouble calling to my power. The water was half way up my shins and I started to hear the scream of my team-mates as they couldn't see the robots in front of them.

"Aquatica! LULA!" I could hear Kurt's screams as I back away until I hit a wall.

"Come on, come on, come on!" I muttered as I willed my skin to become hydrophobic. "You can do this."

"_You're Aquatica, remember?" _Kurt's voice echoed through my mind and I felt the resolve I needed steel itself in my body. I was getting angry, I needed to stay in control. I imagined myself at a swimming race.

_Just block everything out, Lula. Block everything out. _

I stepped outside myself and reassessed the situation, removing all sounds that would distract me, settling into my routine.

_Take a deep breath._

The water that was up to my waist pushed out around me and I found myself in the bubble. I almost squealed in excitement and then remembered that my friends needed help. I willed the shield to expand further and push the water away. It pushed out by a few inches more, but it was a struggle to hold. I crouched to the floor and crawled around the room, thinking that it would be easier to see feet through water, rather than faces through fog.

I noticed Rogue had collapsed underneath the waves and was almost unconscious; I pushed myself towards her until the shield enveloped her too. She had a dark bruise blossoming on her collarbone and her suit had been sliced where she'd been attacked by one of the laser beams. She didn't sit up like Kitty had. I put my hand to her nose to see if she was still breathing, and my skin lightly brushed hers.

A gripping pain wrapped around my body and dark tendrils beckoned for me to sleep. I strained to keep my eyes open. I could feel the water draining around us, the shield becoming redundant. I caught a glimpse of concerned faces, pained voices whispering my name and then the darkness wrapped itself fully around me, and I fell into oblivion.


	12. Chapter 12 - Defense

I woke up to the sounds of my teammates muttering my name. Kitty was perched on one side of the bed, and the sheets were a crisp white, alerting me to the fact that I'd made it to the hospital wing.

I opened my eyes slowly, blinking to try and clear my vision. That's when I noticed that _everyone _was in the room, staring at me, leaning close to my face. I was inches away from Kurt's blue head.

"Lula, it's nice to have you back!" He said when I pushed myself further up the pillows. Jean pulled him bag to give me some space.

"What happened?"

"Kitty, the Professor wanted to know when she woke up, will you go and get him?" Scott followed Kitty to the door.

"You fainted, Lula."

"How?"

"It was my fault." Jean and Kurt moved to one side to reveal Rogue.

"What do you mean?"

"That's my power remember?" She pointed at the glass of water that was sat on my nightstand and the liquid rose from the glass and hovered for a few seconds. "Lula, I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean it-"

"It's okay, really," I said wistfully. "I was only trying to help you."

"Well, I'm fine now. I'm just sorry we can't say the same for you."

"What do you mean? I'm right as rain! Totally ready for my first day at Bayville High."

"That's something that you're going to need to talk to the Professor about," Jean said gently.

"Yeah, Professor X is never going to let you go to school now," Evan chipped in. "You wiped out."

I flashed back to the training session, the rising water, the panic. Touching Rogue to check if she was breathing and then everything went black.

"Guys, I'm sorry about the training session, I can't believe I-"

"It's fine," Jean touched my forehead. "The Professor probably overestimated you." I know it shouldn't but it felt like Jean had pushed a knife into my heart and twisted. What had the Professor said about my powers? _I'm not normally wrong, Lula. And this is something I'm almost certain about._

Yeah. Right.

"Hello, Tallulah." The Professor rolled into the room and adjusted his chair so that it was at the bottom of the bed. "It's good to see you awake."

"I think we better go, come on guys." Jean hustled Kurt and Evan out of the room to wait with Kitty and Scott who had returned and we watching from the door. I had no doubts that Kurt and Kitty would stay and listen through the wood. Rogue refused to move.

"I want to stay with her. I need to talk to the Professor too."

Jean didn't question her, but walked out the door, closing it behind her.

"Lula," he sighed. "I'm sorry that this happened to you, and I am not afraid to admit that it was mostly my fault. I thought that you were ready for the challenge, but perhaps I was wrong."

"But, Professor! I want to-"

"It's alright, Lula. I've made arrangement for you to work with the New Recruits tomorrow morning, first thing. So you can get better acquainted."

"Professor, you can't kick Tallulah out!" Rogue stormed to the other side of my bed.

"I'm not 'kicking her out,' Rogue. I'm just putting her with the more inexperienced X-Men. So that she can work on her skills, become better."

"I hate to contradict you, Professor-"

He gave a small smile. "That hasn't stopped you before."

"But Lula's doing well here. We all want her in our team. She just needs practice! How is she supposed to get anywhere if she's just training with those losers? Give her a chance!"

I was surprised that Rogue cared so much, it made me happy, and it also made me want to fight back. "Professor, you can't do this. Please, let me stay. Please."

"You know I want to, Tallulah, but-"

Rogue protested, "she can do it!" at the same time that I said "I can work harder."

"I've only known about my powers for five days, give me the benefit of the doubt. You know I have power. I saved Kitty!"

"I won't deny that you have strong powers, Lula, but you've put me in a very difficult position. It may have been too early to promote you to the official X-Men status. You're superb at defending other but when it comes to defending yourself, Lula, I'm sorry but your performance wasn't spectacular. Everyone needs to be able to help their friends, but sometimes you have to know when to help yourself."

Through the Professor's speech Rogue and I had become increasingly quieter. I didn't protest and we stayed silence.

"Professor!" Kitty phased through the door and Kurt teleported to the other side. "Professor, we'll help her!"

"Yeah, we're willing to do whatever it takes. Extra training sessions-" Kitty started.

"Extra?" Kurt moaned, but Kitty shot him a look that shut him up. "Yeah, Professor. Extra! All the training we can fit into our schedules."

"Please don't make her leave!"

"Kitty, it's not that simple-"

"It is. You didn't see what Rogue did with the water! Lula's skin isn't just hydrophobic she can bend water to her will, like, summon its powers or something."

The Professor looked suddenly curious. "Is this true, Rogue?"

"Completely." She nodded and gave a small demonstration with the water of in the glass. "I'm only able to do it because I'm more experienced. Give Lula that experience and she'll be incredible!" Rogue realized that she sounded a bit too enthusiastic, so threw up her mask and gave a non-committal shrug. But I knew what she was saying. She would help me no matter what, even if that meant she had to take some of my power and personally instruct me herself. "Storm can help too."

The Professor gave us the biggest grin I'd ever seen. "This is what I want to see," he said. "Teamwork. Commitment. Dedication. And it's because I see those things in you, Lula, that I'm going to help you work with your powers also."

I looked at him in astonishment.

"In some ways you could almost say that this was another test."

"Good!" Kitty piped up. "Because we already have her costume." She brought out a navy and sea blue lycra suit. The lighter blue looked like a swimming costume with a mandarin collar, there was a triangle cut out around the navel and hips to make a faint X symbol. Kurt flashed in and out of the room and held up a knee-high pair of yellow boots.

"See? She's all set."

The Professor laughed.

"Welcome to the X-Men, Lula." Kitty smiled. "For real this time."


	13. Chapter 13 - Intimidated

After my defense team had been steered away from the room, I'd asked Professor Xavier if I could still go to school. There had been another ten minutes of hasty disputes, but he had finally given in, but insisted that I got a lift with Scott and Jean, because I was in no state to drive.

I quickly changed out of my New Recruits uniform and placed my X-Men uniform in the closet, running my fingers over the smooth fabric. Scott had brought up my clothes and backpack from the training room lockers.

"Just cause you're part of the X-Men, doesn't mean you get out of school." Scott smiled, he'd waited outside my bedroom so that he could show me to the garage.

"If you could, I would have found a way to avoid it by now," Evan said as he ran past us. The walked out of the main building and Scott lead me round the side to a garage full of cars.

"The Professor wanted me to take you into school today, Lula. I hope that's okay?"

"Umm… I'd sorta promised to drive Rogue."

"Are you sure you're up for it?"

Kurt was stood next to one of the civilian cars. "Don't worry, I can take you." He waggled his eyebrows and Scott rolled his eyes.

"I thought the Professor said you weren't allowed to drive after to almost totaled Wolverine's favourite?"

Kurt laughed nervously. "Well-"

"I'll be fine," I insisted.

"Is Lula going to be diriving us?" Kitty clapped her hands excitedly. "Oh my gosh that would be so cool. There is no way I am, like, ever getting in a car with Kurt _again._"

"Let me guess you were the passenger on his off-road trip?"

"Two weeks of washing the X-Mobile." She shrugged.

"Well I hope it was worth it!" Scott calls. "Does any one want a ride in?"

"Oh, Mr. Popular is feeling generous today?" Rogue appeared at my side. I couldn't quite gauge her feelings for Scott, sometimes she seemed hostile and other times she was ready to bite into him with whatever chance she got.

"I'm with Lula," she announced, and pulled me over to her car of choice. It was a small black convertible with purple lining.

"Isn't this a bit glamorous for going to school?"

"Yeah, that's our Sirens car!" Kitty phased herself into the shotgun seat.

I laughed. "Sirens?"

Rogue gave me a knowing smile. "Hey, maybe the Sirens will make a come back, now that Boom Boom's out of here we could do with a new member."

Scott walked over to the car. "Yeah, but you also got put on probation for that stunt."

"What is it with y'all and listenin' in?" Rogue shot Scott a scathing look, before turning back to the car. "You better get to school, Scott. Wouldn't want to ruin your perfect attendance." She shot over her shoulder. "Kitty, I'm in front."

"Whatever," Kitty grumbled, and I had a feeling she was often kicked out of her choice seat.

"Hey, hey! You ladies have a spare seat?" Kurt bounded over. "There's always room for the K-Man."

"Uh, get away, Kurt! This is the girl's car."

"Come on, dude," Evan patted Kurt's shoulder. "You don't want to be seen in such a girly car anyway."

Kurt looked over to Scott's car, where Amara, Rahne and Bobby had already taken the back seats.

Rogue smiled devilishly. "You know what that means, boys?"

Mr. Logan sauntered into the garage. "Alright, laze-abouts, who's riding in the X-Mobile. You're in luck, I'm driving."

Kurt and Evan groaned, and I revved the engine.

"See you at school!" Rogue laughed as we pulled out and made our way to Bayville High.

The closer we got the more nervous I felt, and by the time we'd made it to the school parking lot I was just about ready to turn back and drive straight home to Toby and the swim team. I thought training for the Galas was hard _until_ I was introduced to the X-Men, and suddenly things got a lot harder.

I was still caught up on by inability to properly help my friends, but on the way over Rogue and Kitty kept reassuring me that they'd help me out after school. "If we don't get a load of homework that is." Kitty sighed dramatically.

Bayville High was ever larger than my old school, and I had absolutely no idea how they expected me to navigated myself to the bathrooms, let alone class.

"Don't worry," Kitty had said, when I'd voiced my concerns. "I'm sure the Professor's sorted everything out so you're in classes with one of us."

"Kitty, I thought you were only a sophomore, and Jean and Scott are seniors…which leaves Evan and Kurt. Yeah, I'm sure they'll be in a good mood after Mr. Logan's driving."

"They'll help you," Kitty said determinedly. "We're X-Men, that's what we do."

Rogue and I waved goodbye to Kitty and we headed to the Principal's office.

"Be warned, the Principal's actually Mystique."

"Mystique?"

"Nemesis. She's got her cronies, the Brotherhood, enrolled here to watch over us. She wants to keep an eye on the Professor really."

"I don't like the sound of that."

"Don't worry so much. When she's in her disguise she can't let on she knows who we really are, but don't be fooled. She definitely knows you're one of us now."

"Great."

I collected my timetable from the receptionist outside of the Principal's office, and was told to wait on one of the hard plastic seats. Rogue tried to wait with me, but was told, rather sharply, by the receptionist who, despite her old lady looks, was anything but nice.

"I'll see you later." Rogue gave me a small wave as she was shuffled out of the office.

"Next!" Principal Darkholme shouts from her office. I gingerly turn the handle of the door and walk in. "Ah, Tallulah Avery." She gestured to the seat in front of her desk. "What a surprise, and I see that you're living in Xavier's Institute?" She had a devilish smile plastered over her face.

"That's right," I whisper.

"Well then, I assume that you will get along just _fine _at Bayville." Darkholme smirked, and a shiver ran down my spine. "I'd like to introduce you to Lance Alvers, Pietro Maximoff and Todd Tolansky." Three boys strode into the room and assembled themselves behind the Principal. The boy who was reminiscent of a toad flicked his tongue at me, the other two looked disinterested. "I suggest that if you would like to really _excel _at Bayville then you would take the advice of these boys. They can really help you settle in."

"The Institute has helped me settle in just fine, Principal Darkholme."

A muscle jumped in her jaw, and I saw the boy who Darkholme had introduced as Lance give me a curious look. The boy in the middle – Pietro - hadn't given me a second glance.

"Hmm. Why don't I let the three of you get acquainted? You don't want to be late for class."

I looked at Todd and flinched when he moved closer. I'd rather drown than have him within three inches of my body. He absolutely reeked.

Lance opened the door for me, and before I knew it I was walking to class, flanked by three of the strangest boys I'd ever met. I assumed that because Mystique herself had introduced me to them, they must also had particular powers.

"So," the voice belonged to Lance. "You're Xavier's new pet."

"Uh-"

He laughed.

"So what can you do?" I looked around nervously, but before I could answer, Todd interrupted.

"Yeah, like, this little thing can do something cool."

"Right, Toad. Because being a slime ball is really cool." A girl with spiky blond hair ran up behind him and smacked him on the shoulder.

"Boom Boom!" He shouted.

"Hey, hey, you don't want the losers to come out and find us do you?" She looked over at me. "Cutting class on your first day? Why are you hanging out with this riff raff?" She laughed manically at her own joke.

I recognized the name, and suddenly remembered that Rogue had mentioned a Boom Boom when talking about the Sirens. _Did that mean she was one of the X-Men? Could I trust her?_

The boy with the white hair still hadn't said a word, and didn't seem at all fazed by Boom Boom's interruption.

"Leave us alone, Tabitha. Fishtail was just about to tell us her power."

I played with my fishtail braid defensively. "Actually, I wasn't going to tell you anything."

"Still wanna play for the good side?" Launce teased. "You'll change your mind eventually every one does."

"Like you changed your mind at one point, Lance? Just for Kitty?" Pietro finally spoke up. He ran in circles around our group at an abnormally fast pace.

"Kitty?" I asked, and Lance blushed. I stopped in my tracks when I realized that they were about to lead me outside. "I have to get to class," I said.

"What have you got?" Tabitha asked.

"Physics." _Oh great, _I thought as I read my timetable, not wanting to remember my last Physics lesson.

"Me too!" Toad said.

_Eugh. _

"I'll just be going now." I gave a quick wave and scuttled back down the corridor.

"Hey wait!" Lance called after me. "Don't you need someone to show you the way?"

Pietro was beside me in a flash. "I can handle that. No one is as fast as me." He took hold of my wrist and ran so fast that I almost tripped. Toad jumped from wall to wall to follow us. I spotted a water fountain just down the hall, and just as I thought about it water erupted from the spout and soaked Toad and Pietro as they went past. I stayed completely dry. I spotted Rogue in the classroom next to the fountain, and she'd saved me a space. "Nice to meet you boys, I'll make sure to tell Principal Darkholme about how great the tour was." And with that I walked into the class and shut the door in their faces.

A hint of a smile played at Rogue's lips and she asked, "You okay?" when I sat down. I gave her a nod, and indicated to a soaking wet Pietro and Road as they walked in to take their seats.

"I think they know what my power is now." I laughed with Rogue, until the teacher told us to quiet down.

My phone buzzed in my bag, and I knew that it was probably Toby asking me how everything was going. _Swimmingly, _I thought, and had to bite back a laugh.


	14. Chapter 14 - Challenge

"How's your first day so far?" Jean asked, as she joined Rogue and I in the cafeteria.

"Don't you normally sit over there?" Rogue pointed to a seat by the jocks' table, before I could reply.

"I thought I would sit with Tallulah today, since it's her first day." She smiled, not bothering to look where Rogue was pointing.

"Problems with Duncan?" Rogue smirked.

Jean's eyes sparked, but she kept a calm smile on her face. "So, Lula," she continued.

"Yeah, it's been fine," I interrupted before Rogue could say anything else. "I think I've met all of Principal Darkholme's boys now, so I know who to stay away from." I glanced over at the boy Rogue called 'The Blob' and shivered.

"Ladies!" Kurt cheered, as he sat on the other side of Jean. A pretty black girl, who Kurt introduced as Tamara, sat beside him. "Hi!" She said, all smiles, and touched her hand to Kurt's forearm.

I threw a questioning glance at Kurt and he winked. _She must know about our powers. _"Who doesn't know we have super powers?" I asked in hushed tones.

"The football team," Scott scoffed and joined us at the table.

"Woah woah, are we having a party? I get enough of you losers at home, don't y'all ever give anyone space?"

I moved to touch Rogue's shoulder and she flinched. "Hey, you alright?"

"I'm fine, this table's just a little over-crowded."

"I don't mind." I shrugged and Rogue focused on her food.

Kitty and Evan eventually squished on to the benches and we ate in the banquet style of the Institute. I didn't tell Rogue that I liked being surrounded by so many friends, after only having Toby to sit with in my old school. Being competitive means you lose friends quickly, especially when they can't understand your need to train and work, and that you don't have free time to just go to the movies.

"All I know is that I'm going to be exhausted when we get home."

"We were going to help you train remember? Don't fall asleep on us yet!" Kitty laughed.

Kurt cleared his throat, and I noticed his eyes were following the figures standing behind us. Kitty turned round. "Oh, it's you," she said, her voice clipped.

"Hey, Kitty." Lance threw her a dumb wave.

Rogue turned round to look at the Brotherhood. "Toad, you need to be at least five meters away from me at all times, ya' hear?"

"Oh, I hear you, ice princess. We just came over to say hi."

Scott stood up to face the boys. "What do you really want Tolansky?"  
>I think I heard Jean whisper something like: "don't make a scene. You know what happened last time." I wasn't reassured.<p>

Toad shared a look with Pietro and addressed his preposition.

"No way."

"Come on, Shades! We only want to see what your new recruit is like out on the fields!"

"I said no, Tolansky."

"Lula's only just got here, you creep," Rogue practically spat in his face.

"Think of it as-" Pietro darted around the cafeteria hall five times in a nanosecond before finishing his sentence. "Practice for the big leagues, we're not going to take it easy on you just because you have fresh meat."

"Meet you at the lake in the woods beyond the Institute. Home advantage, you can't pass that up," Lance said.

Kurt suddenly looked excited. "Come on, Scott. When do we ever give up an excuse to kick these guys' buts?"

"Yeah, man. I say we take 'em on!" Evan interjected.

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Boys."

It seemed as though I didn't really have a choice. I was trading my safe environment training session for an impromptu battle in the forest. Without the Professor's permission. If we were caught then our punishment would be a lot worse than cleaning the X-Mobile.

I could barely get though my afternoon lessons without thinking about 'what if I mess up? What if the same thing that happened in the training room happened again?' The only difference being that this time we wouldn't have any of the Instructors to save us. I had to trust that my friends and fellow X-Men knew what they were doing.

"You okay, Lula?" Rogue asked. Under her instruction Kitty had ridden with Scott so that it could be just us on the way home.

"Nervous."

"Scott's stupid to accept a challenge like that, but when the guys get behind him, it's as if he can't reject the power to make a decision. Even if that decision puts the rest of us in danger."

"I thought he was supposed to be a responsible leader."

Rogue scoffed. "That doesn't mean he doesn't make stupid mistakes."

"He sure has made an inconvenient one."

"You'll be fine, Lula"

"You don't know that. How can I be confident in my abilities when I've had them for less than a week? I've messed up pretty much every time-"

"Using your power outside of training is different. It'll feel different because you know it matters more." She sighed and turned to look at me in her seat. "But this time it doesn't matter. I'll get 'em if they hurt you. Every one will, we have you're back."

"You're right. We're a team. I've just got to hope I can pull my weight."

We followed Scott's car until he pulled over by a metal fence. I parked next to his car, and we waited for the X-Mobile, which Kurt promised to drive – against Scott's better judgment – because we couldn't let Wolverine find out what we'd agreed to. The plan was for him to drop off the New Recruits and then teleport to meet us.

It would have been a short trek to the lake, but Kurt teleported our team in groups until we were all by the clearing. We wanted to have a head start on the Brotherhood, because even though they had Pietro, he couldn't make the others faster.

"I'd like to put it out there that I don't think this is a good idea," said Jean.

Scott laughed. "You've said that already. Come on, we need to prepare."

"What about our costumes?" Kitty asked.

"We have to be in costumes?"

"Yeah, this is a serious mock battle."

"Oh!" I say and knock my forehead. She winks.

"I'll get them!" Kurt disappears for a few minutes but then reappears with his arms full of lycra.

"Great. This is actually happening," I mutter. We retreat into the trees to change, and when we return the Brotherhood is waiting. _So much for a practice run, _I thought miserably.

"Lets do this, Summers," Lance shouts across the clearing.

"Uh, Rogue…" I stammer when Lance's eyes roll into the back of his head and the ground shakes beneath us.

"Avalanche!" Toad cries in delight.

A crevice opens and separates half of our group from the other. Panic starts to settle into my system, and adrenaline pumps through my veins. I remind myself that I just need to get to the water. I look over at the precipice and realize my plan may not be possible.

"Go!" Evan shouts from behind me and I notice that I've blocked his path with my shaking body. He darts around me as Toad easily jumps across the gap and advances towards us. He flings out his arm and bone spikes erupt from beneath his skin. He throws them across the crevice making a horizontal ladder for the rest of us to get across. Jean is floating above in her usual position, watching as the events of the field unfold. She maneuvers Rogue away from Blob just before she gets in the way of the tree he's uprooted. The ground doesn't stop shaking as Lance tried to upheave Scott. I saw a bolt of red crack open the rock behind me, and decide I should start moving. I run, until it feels as though knives are repeatedly stabbing my lungs. Tabitha launches tiny grenades at the floor – _where did she come from? - _and in my peripherals I notice Kitty being flung to the side by the after shock.

"Shadowcat!" I scream, remembering to use the codenames.

"Aquatica, get out the way!" Evan launches himself at my feet grabbing at the air; one of his blades almost goes straight through my foot.

"What are you doing?" I yell over the sound of Blob's roars, and Scott's lasers.

"Trying to save you, of course!"

"From what?"

"Me," a third voice chimes.

I feel myself being lifted from the ground, and then everything blurs around me. When I'm finally released, I scream, and my body tumbles through the air until Toad's tongue wraps around my wrist and throws me even higher. I hear Rogue growl in frustration and when I hit the ground, from my skewed vision on the floor, I see her flatten him to the ground. Before I can stand Pietro is lifting me up again. "Scared?" He laughs, and throws me onto my back as if I weigh nothing.

I constantly punch his back, but it doesn't seem to affect him. The metal plating is too strong. "Let. Me. Go!"

"Now, now, Aquatica," he says my name mockingly, and I feel a spark of anger flare inside my heart. Toby picked that name, and I was going to show him what it meant. I used my position to kick him in the stomach, and for one second he faltered. Scott was able to shoot him in the chest, and I was free. I didn't look back as I ran towards the water. The hot weather meant the water had receded further in the bay. Before I reached the edge, Rogue grabbed my shoulder and said, "I'll cover you."

Before I moved I saw Pietro pause his fight with Kitty and Kurt to look at me. Weird. Before I gave it a second thought, I sucked in a breath and dove in.


	15. Chapter 15 - Unlimited

The water enveloped my senses, and I let out a sigh of relief when I felt the coldness on my skin. For a moment I reveled in the amount of control I had over my powers. I swam to the bottom of the lake, and when my feet touched the soft sand I closed my eyes and concentrated. I felt the water push back as my hydrophobic skin worked its magic, like a vacuum the water had been sucked away from my hair and suit. I was, once again, completely dry, and for once I was glad.

I ran along the floor of the lakebed until the water was sufficiently deep enough. Before I dove in, I didn't have a plan, but now that I was underwater everything was ten times clearer. I knew what I had to do. Just as I was about to jump to the surface, I felt the pressure of the water change.

Someone else was in the lake.

_They're coming from the left. _I didn't know how I knew, but I wasn't going to question it. If I listened closely, I could hear the person as they scraped the water away from their body with quick and definite strokes. Whoever it was they were a good swimmer. I ducked to the floor, so I was led flat on my back, looking up at the watery ceiling. The water lapped against my bubble as one more body found their way into the water.

_Why did they follow me? They're going to mess up the plan. _As soon as I thought it I remembered what I had to do.

I psyched myself out. _C'mon, Lula. You can do this. For once in your super power filled life, you can do this. _

There was a flash of silver, and when I stood up, Pietro was treading water outside of my bubble. His palms curved sharp arcs through the water, and his cheeks were puffed up like a hamster from where he had to hold his breath. I almost laughed, I forgot people had to do that sort of thing. _I _had to do that sort of thing a few days ago. He looked at me quizzically with the hint of a smile playing across his lips. I folded my arms across my chest and gave him the same look. He tapped on the shield and without thinking too much I let him in.

"Wow," was the first word out of his mouth. His hair was dripping onto the damp sand. He looked around in amazement as the algae and waterweeds knocked against the bubble.

"How are you doing that?" He asked.

I shrugged. "The same way that you can run fast."

"And any one protected in this thing can breathe."

"Normal air," I confirmed. "Seems like it."

"How big can you make the shield?"

"Why would you care?" I countered, punctuating the question with a hand on my hip.

He looked at the floor. "I'm interested, is all. I've never seen or heard of anything like this, and my father is interested in…unique powers."

"I see." No one had told me anything about super parents yet.

_To your right. _The voice in the back of my head shouted, and when I turned around I saw Rogue looking incredulous. I realized what this must look like.

"I shouldn't have protected you."

"Hey," he said. "You protect me, I protect you. Think of it as a bargain." He winked and flashed his winning smile. Pietro dragged a hand through his hair and waved sarcastically at Rogue, who I still hadn't let in yet.

"Protect me? Protect me from what?" I asked.

"The time will come," he said. At that I imagined the bubble spitting him back out into the water, I also imagined the bubble's walls weakening so that Rogue could pass through into the safe layer.

"What are you doing, are you crazy?" She shouted. We both watched as Pietro swam to the surface. "We don't help them! You've been down here for over five minutes, Lula, what were you doing?"

"I-"

Rogue cut me off. "Were you running away?" She accused.

I gasped. "No! I wouldn't do that," my voice rose in pitch with every word. I felt myself getting angry, and when I was angry I lost control, and if that happened Rogue would be plunged back into the cold water with no warning. I sucked in breath after breath, trying to remain calm.

"Lula?" Rogue said, suddenly sounding worried. "Lula!"

"You said you had my back, why can't you trust me?"

Rogue scowled for a moment, before she let out the tension in her shoulders. "That's my problem," she said. "It takes a while for someone to earn my trust."

"You can trust me," I said. "I won't be joining the Brotherhood any time soon, okay?" The anger drained from my body as quickly as it had arrived.

Rogue sighed. "I know you wouldn't. I just don't want you to be like me. Don't be seduced by whatever helpful things they might offer you, okay? It's not worth it."

"I believe you." I paused. "Hey, is there still a battle going on out there."

"Yes, and I'd say we weren't doing so well with two of best team members in this lake."

I laughed. "Go on up, I've got something I want to show everybody."

Rogue gave me one of her rare smiles. "Knock 'em dead."

I released her from the bubble and waited until I could no longer feel any bodies in the water. I closed my eyes one more time and jumped until I was swimming with no water through the lake. As I swam I gained speed, until I shot up from the surface and stood directly on top of the water. My palms were parallel to the surface, and you could see the surface of the water concave as the invisible pressure was applied. As I curled my fingers a steady stream of water swirled up from the lake to meet me. I couldn't touch it, but I could bend it to my will. I threw my hands out in front of me, and the water burst from the lake and rushed towards the Brotherhood. The pressure of the water knocked them off their feet, like a water hose was attacking them. The amount of water in the lake didn't deplete. I clapped my hands together and a large ball of water swirled from the lake and raised above my head.

"Boys!" I yelled. "Are you convinced of my powers now?" I launched the mass of water at their retreating figures, while my teammates clapped and whooped from the sidelines. It took me back to swimming galas and I felt myself smile.

"That's new," Kurt said, dumbfounded.

Yeah, apparently we hadn't even scratched the surface of my powers.


	16. Chapter 16 - Warning

The Professor looked at me with interest. "This is certainly a strange development, Lula," he said. "But it's not unheard of. Powers have been known to manifest and change the more they are used, and since your powers were dormant for so long, I'm not surprised that they have been developing under the surface until you were ready to use them."

"But this means-"

"That your skin is hydrophilic as well as hydrophobic."

"That's impossible."

The Professor smiled and gestured around at the academy. "Nothing's impossible."

"Silly me," I scoffed. "What does this mean for me, Professor?"

He sighed. I didn't like that sound of that. "It means that you're becoming more and more valuable as a member of the X-Men, Tallulah." It didn't escape my notice that he'd reverted to calling me by my full name. "Others will try and, how do I put it? – collect you, Tallulah. This is a very serious and potentially lethal problem. However, I fear that collection is the least of our worries at this present time."

"What do you mean, Professor?" I fidgeted in the seat. As soon as the battle at the lake was over, Kurt rushed me back home and explained to the Professor what had happened. Unfortunately for us, Logan had also been in the room and he had some pretty tricky questions. I decided the best way to answer them was the truth. I left out the boys' willingness to fight, and told the Professor it was my idea, I wanted to prove what I could do. They'd already read me the riot act, but I was fine with taking the blame. I was new, what was the worst that could happen?

Personal training sessions with Mr. Logan or Ororo, that's what. (I was secretly excited.)

Just as Kurt was about to thank me profusely for saving his butt – there was only so much cleaning of the X-Mobile a guy could take – Professor X had taken me aside and lead me to his study for us to 'talk.'

"Something is changing, and I'm not sure I like it. Magneto is on the move again, and I'm worried that he's got something planned. Something that we won't be prepared for, this time."

"Who's Magneto?"

"I'm sorry, Lula. I didn't realize you didn't know." He proceeded to tell me about Magneto and Mystique, the plans they had already tried to enact on the Institute.

"And Magneto is Pietro's father?"

"Yes." He nodded.

"Whoa." I slumped back in my seat. "Pietro said something about protecting me, when we were in the lake."

The Professor looked serious, but didn't ask about how we had come to be in the lake together. "Did he explain?"

I shook my head.

"Then it has begun. You must watch what you say to that boy, Tallulah. We must all watch what we do, because they can not be trusted."

"But Kitty-" I started, but the Professor cut me off.

"Yes, I know about Kitty and Lance." He chuckled, which I thought seemed out of character. "But I trust Kitty, and I know she would not compromise our mission." He looked at me pointedly, and I couldn't help but think he meant that as a warning.

"I can't believe you did that!" my best friend shouted.

"Toby, a little less volume please," I laughed, and held the phone away from my face, and pressed the speaker button. Kitty and Rogue sat on either side of me. We were perched on my bed, with our backs against the wall. I thought it was time I did proper introductions.

"Sorry, but seriously, Lula. That's incredible!"

I felt myself blush. "I know!" I squeaked.

"You should have seen it in person!" Kitty giggled.

"I've seen better," Rogue said with a shrug. I elbowed her in the ribs, and she laughed.

"When do you think you can come down, Tobes?" I asked.

"Tomorrow's Saturday, right? You're allowed visitors on weekends?"

"That's perfect!" I was the one shouting this time. "You need to come down! We can show you around, it'll be awesome."

I could practically hear the smile in Toby's voice when he said he'd been there after breakfast. I couldn't wait to tell Toby everything in person. We said out goodbyes and I put my phone on the nightstand.

"Toby's great, I can't wait for you to meet him properly."

"I've already met him," Kitty reminded me.

"Only for, like, five minutes."

"How come he knows about your powers?" Rogue asked. "I thought we weren't supposed to tell any one."

"He was sort of there when it happened." _Along with about 100 other people, _I didn't add. "Professor X didn't seem to mind. Anyway, I know Toby can keep a secret."

Rogue just nodded.

"Hey, guys?" I said. "I think I have some pretty interesting news." I told them what the Professor had said about Magneto in our meeting.

"That's weird," Kitty said. "Magneto hasn't threatened the Institute in months."

"That's probably the point, he's been waiting for something."

"Maybe he's been waiting for you?" Rogue suggested.

"What? That's crazy, I didn't even know I had powers until a few days ago, how could Magneto have known?"

"Don't' ask me, but that guy is really powerful. He even makes the Professor nervous." That was kind of hard to believe, but then I thought back to the look on his face when he said the name, and I wasn't so surprised.

"He also said something about watching what we say to the other mutants at school."

"Come on, Lula. They're not exactly a threat." Kitty laughed, and offered Rogue a high five. When she didn't take it, I clapped Kitty's hand.

"He's just worried, and if he's worried, I'm worried."

"You've got nothing to worry about," Rogue said. 'Unless…"

"Unless what?" Kitty looked excited. "What, what is it, Rogue?"

"You and Pietro start talking again."

Kitty looked confused. I felt my face heating up as another blush rushed to my cheeks. "I told you, it was nothing."

"NO WAY!" Kitty yelled. "Lula and Pietro?" She turned around so she was fully facing me; her eyes were aglow with intrigue.

"I talked to him for three minutes!" I exclaimed.

"That's three minutes more than any one else has talked to him!"

Kitty clapped her hands together "I wondered where he went in the battle!"

"It was nothing," I reiterated.

"But wait, you would date Pietro? Eww!"

"You're with Lance," I pointed out.

"_Was _with Lance. _Was!"_

"So you would date him?" Rogue poked my shoulder, a devilish grin on her face.

"What? No."

"Why wasn't that your immediate answer?"

"It was!" I grabbed a pillow and screamed into it. "I do _not _like Pietro."

"That's something that someone who liked Pietro would say," Rogue teased.

"I thought you said earlier that you didn't want me talking to him." I whacked Rogue with the pillow.

"Ouch! Lula!"

"I do NOT like him!"

They didn't look convinced.

"Why don't you call him and ask if he wants to hang out tomorrow?" Kitty suggested.

"Because I don't like him." I knotted my fingers into my plait. "Besides Toby is coming tomorrow."

"So you would if Toby wasn't coming?"

"Rogue! No. And I thought-"

"Yeah, yeah, you've said already. But I've been thinking: If the Professor says that Magneto's got something up his sleeve then who better to get close to than his own son?"

"She has a point."

I glowered at Kitty. "No helping."

"It couldn't hurt! You two have chemistry."

I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, Lula? I could invite Lance too?"

"I thought you weren't dating."

"Details!" Kitty said with a flip of her hand. "Look, I'll text Lance now and ask him and Pietro to come with us tomorrow." She pulled a phone out of her pocket.

"We can make it look like a truce after last night," Rogue chimed in.

"Do you two enjoy seeing me suffer?"

"Yes," they said in unison.

Kitty's phone chimed. "Ahh!" She shrieked. "It's a date!"

"It's _so _not a date."


	17. Chapter 17 - Complicated

I was not looking forward to the day. Don't get me wrong, I really wanted to see Toby, but the idea of seeing Pietro made me cringe, blush and sweat at the same time. I couldn't sleep. Rogue and Kitty kept me up with their talking – more like scheming. It was way into the early hours of the morning before Kitty finally left for her own bed. When Rogue's head finally hit the pillow she whispered to me in the darkness.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't have to be," I mumbled back.

"You're not going to enjoy it secretly, are you?"

"I'm too tired to think about it."

"Lula?"

"Yeah?" I was clinging onto consciousness.

"Kitty likes Lance and Professor X is okay with it, just remember that."

At that point I was too tired to puzzle out her meaning, but I had a feeling that if I were awake I probably would have rolled my eyes.

"LULA!" Evan shouted from the bottom of the stairs.  
>I jabbed the other earing into my ear and ran down the stairs as fast as I could. I'd almost tripped over the sheets hanging off Rogue's unmade bed. By the time I'd gotten to the door Kitty and Kurt were already hovering; they were too nosy to wait for me to make proper introductions.<p>

I sucked in a breath and opened the door to Toby, who was stood precisely in the middle of the step. I jumped onto him, trapping his arms in a bear hug. "Have you gotten taller? It's been three days!"

"Three days too long." He smiled. "I've missed you, Lula."

"I've missed you too, but there's so much to catch up on!"

Kurt coughed.

"Oh!"

Toby peered behind me. "Hi!" he said, and gave the dorkiest wave I'd ever seen.

"Kitty, Kurt." I pointed to them in turn. "Meet Toby, my best friend from my old life." I could've sworn I saw Toby flinch at the word 'old', but I pushed it to the back of my mind. I grabbed his arm and dragged him through the house.

"So, Toby," Kurt started. "What was it like seeing Lula power up for the first time?"

"It was pretty scary actually. It was like she'd drowned, she was under the water for more than ten minutes. The coach was going crazy!"

"Awesome!" Kurt gave me a high-five.

"Bet you wish you had some special powers too, huh?" Kitty laughed.

"That would be cool, but I'm fine being normal- uh, not to say that you guys aren't normal, I just meant-"

"We get it." Kitty wrinkled her nose and smiled. "Anyway, when you're here, we're the normal ones! I'll go and tell the others you're here."

Kurt gave us a salute and teleported out of the room.

"Wow," Toby said in awe. "That was _so _cool! Does everyone have a power like that?"

"Some people have more practical-for-everyday powers, I suppose."

I gave Toby the run down of who could do what. We spent over an hour talking about what it was like to have powers. I was conscious of how much I was monopolizing conversation, but Toby just nodded his head encouragingly and the look in his eyes told me he wanted to know more, more, more. I told him about rescuing Kitty from the pool, and what it was like at Bayville High.

"It sounds incredible," he said. We were sat in the lounge, and Jean had come to sit with us too. She'd told Toby about some of the other whacky adventures the gifted youngsters had gotten up to over the years. She'd even picked out some choice anecdotes about the instructors, including Professor Xavier.

"Will I get to meet him?" Toby asked.

"He's pretty busy," I explained. "I've only seen him a couple of times, and mostly when I was in the hospital wing."

"Hospital wing?"

"Occupational hazard." Scott had a habit of sneaking up on us. He slipped an arm around Jean's waist and they walked away together to the garden.

"Are they allowed to do that?" Toby blushed.

I hadn't really thought about the implications before. I thought of all the X-Men as family, but for Scott and Jean living under the same roof meant something completely different. "The boys and girls sleep on different sides of the Institute, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was some room jumping going on."

"Are uh-are couples a uh…thing here?" Toby became very interested in his shoes.

"Well…"

Kitty bounded into the room – by phasing through the wall - at that moment saving me from answering. "Look who's here!" She opened the door with a flourish to reveal Lance.

"Jean and Scott aren't the only ones," I said under my breath, a smile plastered on my face. "But it's okay cause he's from the Brotherhood."

"The evil guys?" Toby exclaimed a little too loudly.

I fake laughed to cover up the empty silence, and nodded almost imperceptibly. Rogue wandered in behind Lance, who stood awkwardly in the doorframe.

"Toby, this is Rogue, my roommate."

"I've heard a lot about you," Rogue said and came over to sit with us. As she sat down, she whispered, "he's not here yet," in my ear. I tried to hide my excitement at the news, but the butterflies in my stomach had me confused enough that I didn't hear what Rogue had said next.

"I said, have you shown Toby the advance in your powers yet?"

"Not yet," I said, glad of the excuse to get outside into the fresh air. I looked around for Kitty and Lance, but they must have disappeared, with Kitty that wasn't surprising.

"Why don't we go down to the pool?" I suggested.

"Sounds great!" Toby beamed. "I have something for you by the way," he said, and grabbed a manila envelope from his satchel. "You don't have to open it now."

I took that as a sign and left it on the coffee table. "I'll look at it later." Toby nodded. "So, my power?"

"Of course!"

When we got to the poolside I grabbed two deck chairs for my friends and told them to sit back. "You're going to need to sit down," I winked before I placed one foot out above the water.

"Lula-?" Toby didn't have enough time to express his concern, because I'd already stepped out onto the water. I stood on top of the surface as if it was solid.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Toby leapt from his seat and ran towards the edge. "You're on top of the water? And you're standing on it as if that's normal. Is that normal? When did this happen?"

"The Professor told me that my skin is simultaneously hydrophobic – hence the walking on water – and hydrophilic." I put my hand out, palm down, to the water and it spiraled up to meet me. With a wave of my arm I had an arch of water suspended around me, like the bubble was there without me even having to be underwater.

"But that's impossible," he spluttered and Rogue laughed from her seat.

"Apparently not! Do you, do you want to try it, maybe?"

"You have to ask?" He did a little dance on the spot and reached for my hand.

"Wait you might get-" Rogue was cut off from the splash we made as we tumbled through the water. I grabbed for Toby's hand when I knew which way was up and which way was down again. As soon as I did so the shield formed and my skin and clothes were dry.

"Okay, this is even cooler!" Toby marveled at me. "We're at the bottom of the pool owned by kids with super powers."

I laughed. "That's one way to put it!"

"And I can breathe!"

_Does every one say that? _

I nodded.

"How long can you stay down here for?"

"That's a question I don't know the answer to. I don't feel any pressure on my lungs, so I guess as long as I can keep it under control. I'll be working on control with the teachers starting tomorrow. I think they want me to be able to turn it on and off at will."

"Whatever you do, don't turn it off now," he said, and settled himself down on the tiles. "Not the comfiest."

We sat under the water for a while, content in the silence. I missed Toby, being able to enjoy silence with someone can be even more important than conversation. It means no one feels pressure to fill in the gaps.

"We best go back up, don't want to piss off Rogue."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, she doesn't seem like the kind of girl you'd want to get on the wrong side of."

"Agreed."

"You're the first normie I've shielded by the way."

"I'm honored."

"My pleasure." It didn't take long for us to burst into laughter.

"How do we get back up?" Toby wheezed as he clutched his stomach.

"I might have to release the shield."

"When at the Institute."

The bubble burst and I felt the rush of cold water flood my skin, we swam to the top and hauled ourselves out the water, our clothes dripping. "Not our best idea," I noted.

"Uh, Lula?"

"Hmm?"

"Who's that guy?"

"What?" I looked around.

"The one who's looking at you…like that."

Toby caught my shoulders and turned me in the right direction.

"Ah," I muttered. My heart leapt in my chest. "That'll be Pietro. He's Lance's friend."

"He's in the Brotherhood." Something clouded Toby's features, and his face twisted into an unhappy pout when Pietro walked over to us with a towel in hand. He handed it to me.

"Thanks," Toby said darkly.

Pietro ignored him. "That was quite impressive," he said. "Walking on water, you seemed steadier on you feet, better than yesterday," he added.

"Yesterday?" Toby looked at me.

"Practice makes perfect." I handed Toby the towel. Pietro's eyes watched as rivulets of water fell off my body and onto the floor. My hair was already dry, and the only part of my clothes that remained wet was the knees of my cut-offs.

"Completely water-proof." Pietro said that smile spread across his face again.

"I'm going to go and see if Kurt has any clothes I can borrow."

"You'd be better off asking Scott, he's more your height," I said and started to follow Toby inside.

"Wait." Pietro took hold of my upper arm. "I thought we could talk."

"Well, actually, today I invited Toby so that he could see the Institute and so that we could catch up, so it would probably be best if I stayed with him."

He let me go. I could feel his eyes on my back as I made my way inside.

_This was going to get complicated._


	18. Chapter 18 - Indecision

After Toby had gone home – following many goodbye hugs and a tearful promise that I'll still call him every night – I wandered from my room to the lounge, where I'd left Toby's present.

Rogue tried to block the door, but I gave her a strange look and wandered in.

"It's a great likeness, you know," Pietro said from the couch that he was stretched out on.

I turned to my new best friend. "Rogue!" I hissed.

_I tried to warn you, _she mouthed. My eyebrows knitted together when she made shooing motions and shut the door in my face. I had been left alone with Pietro.

I scrunched up my fists and turned back to face him. "Sorry, what?"

"It's a great likeness." He held up the manila envelope as a means of explanation.

It took a second for it to sink in. "Hey!" I darted around the couch and snatched the drawing out of his hands.

"He's really captured you and your power." He pointed at the paper to make me stop glaring at him. I couldn't believe he'd be so rude as to open someone else's present. When I looked down all of the air escaped from my body. I had to grab for the armchair, and sank into it, fully absorbed in the black and white ink.

I was floating in the water; my fishtail braid swirled around me. I was in a ready-for-action pose. You could see the shield that kept the water from touching my skin. He'd even captured my X-Men outfit. Rogue or Kitty must have sent him a picture for reference, because there was no way he could have known otherwise. I looked at the art in awe. I couldn't believe that the girl depicted was actually me.

I looked amazing. I looked powerful.

"He has real talent," Pietro said, and brought me out of my trace.

"Why are you still here?" I said, suddenly annoyed.

"You said you wanted to stay with Toby for the day, so I waited for him to leave so that we could…talk."

I didn't know what to say. He'd waited more than seven hours to see me. _Why would he do that?_ "Oh, really?"

"Yes."

"Has Lance gone?"

"He and Kitty went to go see a movie a few hours ago."

"So you've been waiting here by yourself," I said.

"It was worth it."

_Hmm._ "What did you want to talk about?" I kept the drawing clutched to my chest, as if it made me feel stronger, and that somehow, by holding it, I could do this.

"Our dynamic."

I raised an eyebrow. "Our dynamic? From what I remember of yesterday, you ignored me until I sprayed a fountain full of water at you, you hurt my friends and invaded my personal space."

"Yeah, but the last one wasn't so bad was it, Lu?"

It was easy to resist his cocky grin. _Don't think about it, _I warned myself.

"It's Lu_la._"

"Can't I have a pet name for you?"

"I'm not your pet."

He scooted closer to me on the couch. "But you're pretty certain you want to be." Arrogance radiated off him in waves.

I scoffed. "I barely know you!"

"But we have our dynamic," he insisted.

"Yeah? And what is that?"

"We're both the most powerful in our teams."

"I wouldn't go that far. For me maybe, but you?" I didn't want to joke, but a slice at his ego would do him no harm.

He laughed.

"What else do you figure we have in common?"

"Loyalty, anger."

"Those are easy, any one could've told you I get angry, and it's pretty obvious that I'm loyal. I rejected your friend's offer to join the Brotherhood."

He nodded, as if relenting, but he had a glint in his eye, and he stared at me intently. "We both have a need to win."

It felt like I'd been punched in the gut. "How did you-?"

"I know more than you think, Lula. You might like to believe otherwise, but you're very easy to read."

I wanted to slap him. "What do you really know about my life, huh? Nothing. You know nothing about me."

"Oh, really?" he said, mocking me. "So you didn't beat Crystal Weisner six times in a row for the league trophy? You don't love avocados or raspberry yoghurt? You haven't worn your hair in braids since you were seven years old." I grabbed my braid defensively. "Your parents aren't Carl and Rebecca Avery?"

"Stop it!" I shouted. "How dare you! Did you go to my old school and trick people into telling you all that stuff? Have you been spying on me, Pietro?"

His expression didn't change as I kept lashing out on him.

"You might like to 'think otherwise'." I stood up and shook my head at him, as if he was crazy. "But you're not hard to read either! You've probably stolen from every kid in the county, and I bet you've cheated your way to the top. Your dad is a control freak and I bet you're too scared to stand up to him. And you walk in here like you own the place." I realized I was yelling now, but I didn't care. "You don't know a _thing _about me, even though you've got your intimate facts. You don't know what I would do to save my friends. What lengths I will go to keep them out of harms way."

He waited until I'd finished my rant. He hadn't said a single thing. He waited until my breathing had slowed and I'd choked back the tears that had threatened to escape. I don't think I'd ever been angrier. _What was happening to me?_

"How dare _I_?" Pietro asked calmly. "You don't know a thing about me, Lula. So you got pretty close to the mark, but you haven't been through the same things I've been through." Something passed over his face, but it was gone too quickly for me to read properly. "You and me, Tallulah Avery, are exactly the same. And we always will be. We will always fight for the top position, and you shouldn't be scared of that."

"I'm not scared." My voice was barely a whisper.

"Oh, but you are. You're too scared to think about the implications of this conversation. Too scared to think about why you feel so emotional around me, huh? It's because of our dynamic, Lula."

I finally let go of his gaze. "You're right," I sighed, defeated. "We don't know each other, so why does any of this matter? Why do you care, Pietro? Why would you hang around here? Surely you have better things to do with your time than wait to talk to me."

"I can't answer that yet, Lula. I thought it was obvious."

"You're just going to have to spell it out."

He looked at me differently, softer this time, before he looked at his feet. "I hope one day our dynamic changes, Lula."

I let out a bitter laugh. "I want you to leave."

In that moment he looked hurt. Something changed, something snapped. He stalked towards me, and for a second I thought he was going to hurt me. Instead he did something that I would never have expected. He reached out and ran his fingers down my braid; all the while his eyes never left mine. Blink and you'll miss it.

"See you at school," he said. I didn't reply. I watched as he yanked open the doors to the patio and ran into the afternoon sun.

"Lula?" Rogue burst into the room. "I heard shouting. Are you okay?"

"No." I shook my head dejectedly. "No, I'm not."


	19. Chapter 19 - Unexpected

I'd avoided Rogue's questions for as long as possible. I'd gone as far as to sit at the bottom of the pool where no one would be able to get to me. Kitty knew where I was, maybe she knew me well enough or maybe I was just predictable. She tried to tempt me to come in for dinner, but I ignored her pleas and stayed underwater.

At least I would be able to answer Toby's question. How long could I stay underwater? Indefinitely. On Tuesday night I stayed below for just over two hours. I couldn't force myself to cry, even though I had a surplus of emotion. I needed an outlet, and on Wednesday morning I found it.

"Aquatica!" Scott yelled, and I ducked out of the way of one of the Professor's robots. Mr. McCoy had approached me before breakfast and said that I should learn hand-to-hand combat techniques for when I couldn't access my power. Luckily, my after school time was already promised to Wolverine and Ororo so they would teach me the basics.

Spyke zipped past me on his skateboard and disabled the flying disks of death before I was a Lula kebab. "Thanks!" I yelled, before Rogue came at me with a battle cry. This time we were playing teams. Rogue, Jean, Shadowcat and Nightcrawler versus Cyclops, Spyke and Aquatica. On every other day the uneven teams would've been a disadvantage, but I was not letting anyone get past me this time.

I blocked her arm with my forearm. She knew that I didn't have any real skill with fighting, but she didn't take it easy on me. She said, in between grunts, that the best learning came from experience. I took out all of my frustration on her, she didn't complain – she probably understood.

"You can tell me about it, you know," she said, and sidestepped my weak attack.

"I know." I didn't elaborate.

"Simulation sequence five activated."

"Five?" Jean called. "Isn't that the same as-?"

Storm descended, and I had a surge of adrenaline. _If she makes it rain, _I thought excitedly. _I will literally be in my element. _The trap-door ceiling opened up, and Storm was raised into the heavens on a platform. Within seconds there was a steady stream of rainwater, and a very fine layer of mist.

"Vision impaired!" I heard Jean say from above. Rogue immediately stopped fighting when the fog was so dense we couldn't see five meters in front of us.

I closed my eyes and focused. There was no point in a protective shield, I needed to shift this water, and I needed to do it fast. The robots were still whirring somewhere in the room, and as much as Kitty tried to disable them, it was impossible to find every single one. I moved my arms in a reverse breaststroke motion, shifting through the cloud layer like I was swimming backwards. The rainwater collected around me and I felt a strain as the water orb grew and grew. There was no longer any water on the floor, I'd somehow managed to collect it all. _Stay focused, _I reminded myself. _Keep it elevated. _I raised my hands above my head and swiped them through the air, doing whatever I thought would help. As the fog cleared, Jean realized what I was doing and helped me raise the water away from the teams. Eventually we maneuvered the water out of the training room and onto the tennis courts above.

Kurt and Kitty whooped. "That was some seriously cool water work!" He cheered. Evan clapped me on the back, and I smiled.

"Excellent work today, X-Men. Lula, your improvement is encouraging." His next announcement was met with a series of groans. "Now, time for school."

The journey was mostly silent, at my insistence. I thought that if I wasn't talking then I'd give myself enough room to think and process what had happened the day before. I couldn't wrap my head around Pietro's words, let alone his actions.

Kitty and Kurt were sat in the back, and Rogue looked like she appreciated the silence over their constant chatter.

"When's Toby going to come over again, Lula?" Kitty asked.

The one person that I told everything to was Toby, he was the guy to whom I would entrust every single one of my secrets. But this one felt different. How could I explain to Toby what had happened, if I couldn't even explain it to myself? Especially when there was another boy involved. One I wasn't sure I liked or hated.

Apparently the Professor had told the other instructors about the impromptu lake fight, and the other recruits had been warned about the Brotherhood. We had to be extra careful. Logan's only words on the topic of Pietro were, "watch out for that kid, Squirt." His words were loaded with a double meaning, was it another warning, or a request?

"We should see him again soon, probably at the weekend. I think my parents want to come down and visit too."

The others simultaneously sucked in a breath.

"Parents are hard to deal with, man." I saw Kurt shake his head through the rearview mirror.

"Yeah, they know you're different, you know? They still love you an' everything, but you're not the same daughter they once had."

"How often do you see your parents?" I asked.

"Major holidays," Kitty replied, downcast. "It's like the Institute really is a boarding school or something."

"What about you, Kurt?"

"Uh," he hesitated. "Parents are a risky topic in my family. My adoptive parents are lovely, but they're in Germany."

"Oh. Rogue?"

"I was adopted too."

I let the conversation trail off. I wanted the silence more anyways. When we pulled up to Bayville High, I felt a wave of nausea.

I knocked my head against the head restraint.

"What's wrong with Lula?" Kitty whispered. Rogue drew her finger across her neck. Kitty just nodded.

"Come on," Rogue said, and we walked into school together. Rogue shot haughty, menacing looks at anyone who looked our way. "We have drama first," she said.

"Don't we always?" I grumbled.

Kitty and Kurt followed us into the theatre. "It's an elective," Jean explained, when I spotted her amongst the rows of seats. Scott was there too. I had a feeling he had only taken drama to be close to Jean, especially with Duncan lurking just behind them with Jean's friend Taryn. A guy called Jason was stood at the front, handing out scripts to a bunch of cheerleaders who were sat in the front row.

"What play are they doing this semester?" I asked.

Rogue shrugged. "I don't normally pay attention, I use this time as an excuse to kick back."

"Sounds perfect," I said, and we climbed the steps to sit in the back row.

"Jason usually ignores anyone higher than the third row anyway." She pointed at Kitty who was already flirting with the director.

"Surely the school's production shouldn't be our main priority, Magneto is planning something."

"I know. But the Professor wants us to 'engage'" - she made a face -"in the extra-curricular activities. Jean does football, Evan does basketball, Kitty runs track."

"So…sports?"

"You good at any?"

"Guess which."

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I forgot."

"It's okay, sometimes I do too."

"I'm sure you could try out for the team, Lula. You're getting a lot better at controlling your powers."

"True. Maybe one day," I said not really meaning it. Rogue dropped the subject as the latecomers sauntered into the theatre.

"You've got to be kidding me." I pulled my satchel up to hide my face.

Pietro, Lance, Blob and Toad walked up the steps and took their seats in the middle row.

"You didn't tell me they were going to be here?"

"They never had been before." Rogue narrowed her eyes. It was pretty obvious why they'd decided to start now.

"Great," I whispered. "More competition."

Jason called for quiet and introduced that the season's new production was going to be 'Much Ado About Nothing.' I was pretty sure Shakespeare wrote the only plays schools ever performed.

"You know what?" I poked Rogue in the shoulder. "I'm not really into amateur dramatics, do you want to go?"

"You're asking to skip class? Have you ever done something so rebellious?"

"I'll have you know I have missed class three times."

"Not for dentist appointments?"

"Okay, so not exactly, but." I motioned to Pietro, who I hoped hadn't spotted us. I'd had enough of being harassed by his antics. "I really _don't _want to be here right now."

"We can go out through the back."

Just as we stood up to leave, Jason called out: "Great! A volunteer!"

I stood still. "Me?"

"For the role of Beatrice." Jason nodded. "You're the new girl, right? Lula, isn't it?"

As soon as the name escaped his lips all eyes turned to us. Rogue had slid back into a seat without my noticing. "Oh, you are so coming down if I have to." I grabbed her wrist and dragged her down to the stage.

"I don't act!" she hissed.

"Neither do I!" I paused to wonder how I had managed to get myself into this mess until I spotted Pietro making his way to the stage on the other side of the seats.

_This could not get any worse. _

Rogue grabbed a seat by Kitty when Jason thrust a script into my hands. Luckily, I had spent enough time with Toby to know the plot of 'Much Ado About Nothing'. I hadn't expected him to like Shakespeare, but he'd read the manga version of the plays and had gone through a fade of only drawing characters in medieval or Victorian dress.

"Lula, if you could read the part of Beatrice. Can I have a volunteer for the Messenger, please?"

"How many lines does he have?" Kurt asked.

"I think he's only in the first scene."

"I'll do it!" Kurt said immediately.

"Duncan?" Jason called. "I want you to be Don Pedro, Scott you will read Leonato. And we will also need a Benedict, any volunteers?"

Pietro took a script out of Jason's hands. "I'll do it," he said confidently. Jason looked skeptical, but didn't object. I rolled my eyes.

"Remember this is only an audition, you might not have these parts in the production. Scott, you start and come to the stage!" He instructed.

When Kurt said, "_How much better is it to weep at joy than to joy at weeping!" _that was my queue.

I stumbled through the first few lines, until I found the rhythm. I was nowhere near good, but the more Beatrice spoke the more I could relate to her tales.

Kurt had managed to put on a silly voice for the character, which put me off a little, but also helped me to relax. "_A lord to a lord, a man to a man: stuff'd with honorable virtues._" Kurt looked over at Pietro who stood on the sidelines and scoffed. "Yeah right," he muttered under his breath.

"_It is so indeed,_" I replied, glancing at the script. "_He is no less than a stuff'd man._" I turned to look at Pietro over my shoulder and shot him a scathing look; he looked mildly amused in response. Pietro was stood in front of me sooner than I had anticipated, and he was standing awfully close.

"_But it is certain I am loved of all ladies." _Pietro winked, and I cringed. "_Only you expected; and I would I could find in my heart that I had not a hard heart." _He raised an eyebrow at me, and didn't look away until I could meet his gaze.

"_I had rather hear a dog bark at a cow than a man swears he loves me_."

"I'm not inclined to believe that, Beatrice. In fact, I would think quite the opposite were true."

"Uh, guys, this isn't in the script," Jason interrupted.

"How could you possibly think that you can think on my behalf?" I replied.

Pietro ignored him. "Perhaps you have no experience of love, and that is why you would claim something so ridiculous."

I saw Rogue stand up from the corner of my eye.

Jason seemed to have given up on trying to stop us. "May I remind you, that loved by the ladies you may be, but have you felt love yourself either?"

"_Well you are a rare parrot teacher,_" Pietro pronounced, once again referring to his script.

"_Better a bird of my tongue, than a beast of yours." _I finished.

Pietro didn't deliver the next line, he just stared at me with an unreadable expression.

"Well." Jason clapped his hands. "Wasn't that interesting? Why don't we take a break?"

Jason stood between us and I shoved the script into his chest.

_We should talk, _Pietro mouthed.

_We've done enough talking._

I walked over to Rogue and she handed me my bag, and we ran out of the theatre like we'd originally planned.


	20. Chapter 20 - Planning

"The key to any hand-to-hand combat is focus, and anticipation." Logan paced in front of Evan and I. Logan had chosen Evan to assist me because he was the one who most recently learned how to fight, and he wanted to help advance both of our skills rather than pairing me with someone as experienced as Scott.

_I can do focus, _I thought. _Anticipation isn't too bad either. I used to anticipate winning. _

"Anticipation is the hard bit," he said, and I groaned inwardly.

"How long are we going to be out here for?"

"As long as it takes for you to beat him, Squirt, so try not to get too excited."

_I'm going to be dead by the end of this. _

We were in the training room, where a boxing ring had been set out, and padded mats covered the majority of the floor, and paneled half of the walls.

"At least I'll be comfortable."

"It isn't about comfort," Logan snapped. "It's about survival."

I looked at Evan who was struggling not to laugh.

"First is stance," he started and continued to lecture until he reached blocking. "We'll begin with weapons rather than fists, wouldn't want you kids really hurting each other." I thought he was actually being nice until he added, "Although that would be entertaining."

He picked up two wooden sticks from the floor and threw them at us. I didn't even catch mine. _This was off to a great start._

After twenty minutes of hearing the sticks clash together, I was sweaty and tired. I'd managed to block at least two of Evan's advances. The others had bruised various parts of my body. Mr. Logan insistent that I needed to visualize what I thought my opponent was going to do next.

"But what if he feigns!" I'd protested.

"You block it nonetheless."

When the hour was finally up I was exhausted. I wanted to curl into a ball and go to sleep. My muscles were aching; even muscles I didn't expect to use were worn out!

"It's not the worst I've seen," he said, as a way of consoling me. If I thought Wolverine would be any less intimidating in sweat pants and a tank top then I was wrong.

"I heard Pietro was here yesterday," Evan said as we walked to diner together. "What a creep, was he spying on us or something?"

"No, Kitty invited him."

He stopped in his tracks. "Why?"

"Kitty and Rogue are under the impression that I should quote-unquote 'get to know him' for the sake of the Institute."

"Again, I'm forced to ask why?"

"Haven't you heard about Magneto's rumored plans?"

"Heck, that guy's been trying to take down Professor X since day one. I wouldn't worry about it. Besides, the X-Men got yo' back." He laughed.

I smiled. "I know, but he's scared this time."

"Hey, I'll talk to Auntie O. If the Professor has some secret, then she'll be sure to know about it."

When the elevator _pinged _as we reached the hallway, Evan stopped me before I got out. "Look, Lula. You're new here, right? And pretty soon you'll get used to how we do things around here. Who we do and don't hang out with."

I nodded, not sure where this was going. "Take my advice, don't hand around Pietro, okay? He's a vain, selfish loser."

"Pro tip." I saluted. "Duly noted, but someone has to take the bullet, Evan. And I'm pretty sure it has to be me."

I leant across the table and whispered in Rogue's ear, "I have an idea."

The corners of her mouth twitched. "And you need some help?"

Kurt was already straining his ears to hear my plan, so I decided to let him in on it too. "I need a _lot _of help."

"Does it have anything to do with four weirdoes and Boom Boom?" Kurt asked.

I snuck a glance at Scott, who was engaged in conversation with Jean. "Maybe." I winked.

Kitty, who was sat next to Kurt said, "I'm in! But what if we get caught? _Again_, I might add."

I don't know what had happened to me, but all of a sudden I wasn't bothered by the risks. This was something I needed to figure out for myself, and even if I had to clean all of the X-Men suits for a month, it would be worth it.

"What's the plan?" Rogue asked.

"We better let Spyke in on the action," Kurt said. "He loves anything to do with hating on the Brotherhood."

"I want to break in," I explained.

"To Mystique's house?" Kitty's jaw dropped, but Kurt covered it up but shoving a bread-roll in her mouth.

"They do it to us all the time," Rogue said, nodding along. "Why don't we give them a taste of their own medicine?" Her eyes suddenly lit up. "I have a better idea!" She leaned in close and said in hushed tones. "Why don't we break into the school instead? If Magneto's up to something, Mystique will know what it is. If he's hiding his plans from the Brotherhood, which he's done before, then she's not going to file anything at the house. So where will she keep it?"

"In the Principal's office!" we mouthed.

"Exactly."

"How do we get the Professor to agree to us going out in the first place?" Kurt asked.

Luckily I had a plan. "We'll tell the Professor that we've been feeling the pressure of balancing school and training – with Wolverine's new work ethic he wouldn't find that hard to believe – and that we're going out to the movies or something."

"Okay, so you have thought this through a little." Kurt said in between shoveling the burgers.

"Cover of darkness. Movie lasts a couple hours; plenty of time for a break-in."

"Sweet!"

When everyone's plates were cleared I coughed discreetly and motioned for Evan to follow me. "Are you up for a reckless, potentially dangerous and stupid endeavor?" I asked him in all seriousness.

"When am I not?"

"Good. Just follow our lead."

The Professor, who must have believed we really were under a lot of strain, decided, "why wouldn't it be okay?" for us to go out for the evening. So long as we had adult supervision. Which is when my totally genius plan started to look a little sketchy.

Then I had an epiphany. "Toby!" I exclaimed. "We'll invite Toby, Professor. We can't show our powers to normals, right? He'll keep us in line, I promise!"

He looked skeptical for a minute but smiled. "Alright. How much damage can six teenagers do?" He chuckled. "Be back my curfew."

When the five of us walked out of the Institute, carrying bags stuffed with our costumes, Scott and Jean didn't bat an eyelid.

"They probably can't wait to have some 'alone time'." Rogue gagged.

I'd called Toby and gave him a condensed version of the plan. He'd have to learn about the breaking-and-entering when we got there.

We got to the garage and looked at the Siren car. Kitty shook her head, adamant that the boys would contaminate it.

"With six of us, we're going to need a bigger car." I turned to the X-Mobile.

"Oh no," Kurt grumbled.

I rubbed my hands together. "Oh yes."


	21. Chapter 21 - Confession

After collecting Toby and alerting him to our clandestine activities – he wants every one to know that on record he was _not okay _with this – we pulled up outside of Bayville High.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Toby asked when we got out the car. He must've been a little taken aback by the five X-Men in their costumes. This was the first time Toby had seen Kurt without his human projection filter, so I wasn't surprised that he looked slightly intimidated.

"Yes, yes," Rogue said with a wave of her hand. "Have you got the camera?"

Rogue had asked Toby to bring his recording equipment in case Mystique was lurking. We figured the Professor would be too interested in the plans of Magneto to ask questions about why we had the footage in the first place.

"Right." I steered my friends into a huddle. "Does everyone know the plan?"

"I might need an update," Toby whispered.

"Okay. Nightcrawler – we have to use code names – and Shadowcat are going to sweep the building first to make sure there aren't any other intruders on the premises."

Kitty and Kurt gave a salute and ran off into the school.

"Shadowcat will disable the alarm system, and open the doors from the inside, then the rest of us follow through."

Rogue nodded, and took over the explanations, "When we're inside, Geek – no offense, but you need a codename."

Toby blushed and Rogue continued, "Aquatica and I will make our way to Darkholme's office, you and Lula will search and I'll wipe the security footage. Spyke searches the receptionist's office, and Shadowcat and Nighcrawler go to administration."

"Why do we need to search so many places?"

"Because this is Mystique's school." Rogue sighed impatiently. "And what if the Brotherhood have the same idea. They're not completely stupid, and neither is Mystique, she's probably hidden the files anywhere. Wouldn't want a normal student to find it accidentally."

Evan smirked. "But we're not normal students."

"Precisely."

"Okay, I think I get it. How long to we have to-"

My attention was diverted by the open doors of the gymnasium. "They're in! Come on!" I ran to the doors, one of Toby's digital cameras slung across my back. We were silent as we ran across the field and into the sports hall, which was pitch black.

"Uh, don't we get any lights?"

"Wouldn't want anyone to see us from the outside." Evan clapped Toby on the back.

"Yeah, right, I totally forgot that you guys were the masters of breaking and entering."

"It's a privilege to be working with us." Rogue drew a finger across Toby's chin as she sauntered to the girls' locker rooms where Kitty's torso protruded. She grabbed our hands and pulled us all through.

"Dude, the girls' locker rooms?" Evan shivered.

Kitty giggled. "The first and last time you'll ever see them."

At the other end of the changing rooms were the doors that led out to the school pool. I clenched my fists and we walked past. "The double doors at the end lead out to the main hall. Meet back here in thirty minutes, even if you don't find anything." I said. "And if we get split up for whatever reason, just focus on getting yourselves out, okay?"

"We don't leave people behind." Kurt's eyebrows knitted together.

Rogue shook her head. "We do this time. If anything happens then we have to get hold of Scott and Jean. Don't say anything to the Professor."

"Fine," Kurt agreed and we were off.

"Lula, what are we doing?" Toby gripped onto his camera with white knuckles as I pulled open drawer after drawer. Rogue was just outside searching through the filing cabinets.  
>"We're riffling through the Principal's drawers."<p>

"No, I mean what are we _really _doing?"

"What do you mean?"

He shot me a look, one that I never expected to see on Toby's face. My best friend looked at me as if he didn't recognize me. "You've changed, Lula."

"Of course I'm going to change, I've got this…this power now. I didn't ask for it, may I remind you," I said, before realizing there was too much anger injected into my voice.

Toby sighed next to me. He put his camera down and started looking through the drawers on the other side. "Change isn't necessarily a bad thing, Lula, I know that. I just," his voice caught," I don't want to lose the old you."

I put down the student reports I was looking at and turned to face him. "Toby," I started.

"Wait, let me finish," he said.

I nodded.

"Lula, you are extraordinary." I wanted to protest but he didn't give me time to before launching in to the rest of his speech. "And you're my best friend, but you can't _let _them turn you into something you're not. Impromptu fights, busting into school buildings? I understand that sometimes you need to do things for the greater good, believe me, I do!"

"I believe you."

"And I believe _in _you, Lula. I know you'd never do anything to hurt anyone, but please," he paused and took a deep breath. "Please be careful."

"I'm always careful." I smiled. "Maybe this whole super power thing has got to my head a little bit, but I have to adjust. It's a lot to take in, I can't imagine what it's like for you…being the one-"

"The one left behind," he finished. Toby looked everywhere expect my face. "I will always support you, Lula. In whatever you choose, but make sure you're making the right choices, okay?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He reorganized the trinkets on Mystique's desk. "It means that I know the way that guy was looking at you," his voice was barely audible.

"Who? Pietro?" I scoffed.

"He looks at you like you're something to eat."

"He wants my power for his dad's army or whatever."

"And would you join them?"

"Toby." I rolled my eyes. "You have to ask that?"

A small smile spread across Toby's lips. "You have the choice, is all."

"I couldn't do that to my friends. Plus, I love you too much for some boneheaded guy to come between us."

Toby was silent, and it took a moment for me to realize why. He must have noticed my shocked expression, because when he spoke again he looked forlorn and his voice almost had me in tears. "I love you too, Lula."  
>I knew then, and it broke my heart, that he meant it in a way I never could.<p> 


	22. Chapter 22 - Confrontation

I took as many photos as I possibly could whilst waiting for Rogue to tell us she'd finally found something.

"Anything?" I called to her.

"Not even close." She sauntered into the room. "I don't think there's anything here. Maybe she really did hide something in the Brotherhood house?"

"Guys?"

My shoulders fell. "If there's anything written down to begin with."

"Hey, don't give up!" Rogue placed a gloved hand on my shoulder. "If there is something out there then you can guarantee that we'll find it."

"Guys!" Toby's voice cut through my disappointment. "You might want to see this."

Rogue was practically nose-to-nose with the window. "We have company," she growled.

Toby pointed to the Brotherhood who were fast approaching. "That doesn't look good."

"There's no way they're going to get in trouble, this is Mystique's school, but if we're found here…" I trailed off.

A smile played at Rogue's lips. "Say goodbye to your clean permanent record."

Toby's face blanched. "There's no way to warn the others."

In that second the security alarm blared, and I couldn't help myself. "I think we've got that covered."

"We need to leave." Rogue grabbed my wrist. "Now."

Toby scrambled to pack all of his equipment away.

"Toby!" Rogue warned.

"All this stuff's got my name on it, we can't leave it here or they'll be able to trace me back to you!" I shoved one of the cameras into the bags and tried to reorganize the desk in a semi-tidy way. "I don't think that went there." Toby gestured to the stack of unsigned report cards.

"There's no time for that now, we need to get out of here!" Rogue hissed.

I followed her lead and together we made out way into the hall. Rogue threw her hand up and we paused to listen. "They've got-"

_BOOM. _The locker doors that lined the hall flew open and the glass shook in the window frame. _BOOM_.

"They're here." Adrenaline poured into my veins and my fight or flight sense started to kick in. "Come on!" I shouted, and led my friends down the corridors away from the approaching Brotherhood.

"Lula! This way!" Rogue grabbed my arm and I grabbed Toby's and together we whipped down the science corridor. "Did you forget you've been here less than a week?" Even though we were running as fast as humanly possible, she still managed to laugh.

A rumble shook the very foundations of the building, and I noticed that slime coated the floors.

"What the-?" Toby stopped to take a picture of the sludge.

"We need to go back," I said. "This is a-"

"Trap? Yeah, I'd say it is." From the end of the hall Avalanche and his goons stormed towards us. The Blob held Nightcrawler by the neck. Shadowcat's arms were bound by Toad's tongue.

"Ew, gross. Do you know how hard this suit is to wash, slimeball?"

Lance's eyes darted to Kitty, but he soon refocused on us. Pietro stepped out from behind Blob and smiled. "You're fast, just not fast-" he was in front of me in seconds- "enough."

Toby's fists clenched. "Get away from her." I was surprised that his voice didn't wobble.

Pietro spared a glance at Toby and his smile grew even wider. "I'm sorry who are you?"

I shoved him in the chest. "He's my friend."

To my even greater surprise Pietro backed up.

"Hey, _Quicksilver,_" Evan's voice was full of malice, "watch out!" He shouted, and from out of nowhere a bone spike skimmed Pietro's arm and sliced open his suit. The cut was only shallow, but it bled quickly. I couldn't help but flinch at the sight. I tried to tell myself it was because of the blood, not because of the guy who was bleeding.

In the split second before Pietro could become a blur and run after his long time nemesis Rogue ungloved her hand and touched his bare skin. Blood smeared on her fingertips, she ran after him.

"Hey, Kitty Kat, wanna play?" Avalanche's eyes rolled back into his head and the tiles beneath our feet started to crack.

"Toby, stay here, okay?"

He didn't argue, and clung onto one of the open locker doors. I ran at Blob with all my might. I leapt at him, fists balled and threw as many punches as I could –thanks, Mr. Logan – before one swipe of his arm almost knocked me out cold. Boom Boom laughed in the background as she set of hundreds of miniature explosions. Kitty phased out of Toad's grip and surprised him with a kick to the face. He bounced away and threw himself towards the ceiling, where he clung to the light fixtures with his metre long tongue.

I never thought I'd be thankful for one of Tabitha's bombs, but she aimed too close to a smoke alarm and the emergency sprinklers turned on. I threw my arms out and directed the water to blast Blob. He dropped Kurt and I rushed towards him. The water made the floors slick, but I managed to get him to his feet. "Kurt, I need you to take Toby home. You need to teleport out of here, the rest of us will follow."

He nodded, and I covered his back as he made his way to Toby. The floor was cracked completely and Lance had moved on to making the ceiling crumble. Plaster rained down on top of us, and I used one of my hydrophobic shields to minimize the damage.

Before Toby could protest, Kurt grabbed his wrist and they flashed from view.

When I turned around I saw Evan, Pietro and Rogue engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Despite being two against one, Pietro managed to hold his own. Toad was nowhere to be seen, he had probably fled the building he was such a coward.

Unfortunately for me my attention was quickly occupied by Blob, who didn't look too happy about my water show. I ran in the opposite direction and Kitty followed straight on my heels. "Lula, in here!" we tumbled into one of the classrooms and waited.

"He's not that stupid is he?"

Blob ran directly past the classroom.

Kitty giggled. "I think that answered that." She sobered. "We need to get out of here, Lula." The tone of her voice let me know that this wasn't the usual fear of the Brotherhood that had her worried. "You should know something," she said.

"Who else is out there, Kitty. Who did you see?"

"You're really not going to like it, Lula. If you thought Pietro was bad enough then you haven't seen anything."

A scream echoed throughout the halls and the temperature dropped rapidly.

"Kitty what was that?" I asked as calmly as possible.

Her eyes widened. "The Scarlet Witch."

"Who?"

Kitty pushed us out the door before she could answer. I flinched just before we ran into the walls, but Kitty had us covered. "She's Pietro's sister," she panted.

"What?" I almost stopped running. "Since when has Pietro had a sister?"

"She doesn't go here," she explained. "But she's part of the Brotherhood, and I doubt she enjoyed the idea of not getting part of the action. There this sort of rivalry between the two of them, you know? Pietro's pretty scared of her, because she's like, all powerful."

"You're joking."

I looked into one of the classrooms and saw that all of the tables were levitating.

"Okay, maybe you're not."

"PIETRO!" The Scarlet Witch screamed.

Rogue almost flattened us when we rounded the corner. "There you are!" She looked relieved, but it was quickly replaced by pure hatred. "Wanda's here."

"We need to get Evan," Kitty yelled over the yells of Lance as he attempted to bring the building to the ground.

"He's back in the gym! I just came for there." Before Rogue had even finished we were sprinting in that direction.

"Where'd your speed go?" I asked.

"I didn't have contact for long enough, it wore of quickly."

"Xavier's going to kill us," Kitty sobbed.

"Keep it together, it's almost over."

The doors to the pool were wide open, but Rogue forced us to stay low.

"Wanda's not in there, so watch your back," she warned.

"Good job we're in my element. We need to get them in the water," I demanded. I let them in on my crazy plan and they snuck into the pool and snuck up on Blob and Toad. Rogue pressed her bare hands firmly against Blob's back and her strength tripled. Toad, who wasn't known for his affinity to the water, looked scared when Kitty charged straight at him. The pair fell straight into the water. Kurt flashed into view and grabbed Avalanche around the waist, pushing him into the water as well.

"Nothing beats the X-Men," he cheered with the biggest smile on his face. I fuelled all of my concentration into channeling the water to rise from the pool. Pietro realized what was to come and ran in circles around me.

"KURT!" I screamed. My arms strained against holding the weight of the water. "GET KITTY AND EVAN OUT OF HERE NOW!" Pietro's vortex had started to choke off my oxygen supply and I struggled to breathe.

Kurt rounded on his friends and they disappeared from view.

Rogue's hands grabbed Pietro at just the right time and he was thrown, as if he weighed nothing, into the throng. "Lula, now!" Rogue started to initiate the second part of the plan. I held the water aloft with one hand, which now held the Brotherhood, who I imagined were running out of breath, and joined hands with Rogue. She took some of my power away and together we shrank the water orb until it was small enough to handle, but sill hold the Brotherhood, and raised it towards the top of the high ceiling.

"STOP!"

I was frozen in time. My strength bled out of me, and my hold on the boys weakened until I couldn't take it anymore. The Scarlet Witch used her energy to safely release the Brotherhood from my bonds and instead lifted Rogue to a great height, without even breaking a sweat. I watched as she tumbled through the air and I was powerless to stop it. Kurt reappeared and as soon as he saw Rogue, he risked touching her bare hands and transported her back to the Institute, leaving me with the enemy.

Wanda screamed in frustration. She shot a blast of her hexes straight at my chest and I flew across the room until my back hit the walls. The Brotherhood stayed well back as she ran at me again. I already couldn't breath when she gripped her hands around my shoulders, her nails digging into my skin. "No one hurts my brother but me!"

"Stop!" Pietro ran towards us and wrestled me out of his sister's clutches.

My knees trembled and I felt myself fall to the ground. Pietro's arms encircled my waist and I fell into him. "Lula?" I couldn't find my voice to respond. My eyelids felt heavy and my limbs turned to lead. "Lu!" Pietro's expression changes to one of worry. Wanda moved to grab at me again, but Pietro stopped her with a look. He hooked his arms under my knees and lifted me, taking all my weight as if it was nothing. My head resting against his shoulder, the last thing I heard him say before I blacked out was, "She's part of the plan."


	23. Chapter 22b - Tantalising

This is the aftermath of Chapter 22 from Pietro's perspective. I may include more of these eventually, because Pietro was just too fun to write!

I carried Lula all the way home. My fingertips grazed over the holes in her suit where she'd collided with the rubble. Lula groaned every time I had to shift my grip and the sight of her in pain made me grimace. I only had my sister to thank.

"Seriously, Pietro, you don't have to-"

I zipped ahead of Lance. "No," I said, "I don't have to, but Magneto wouldn't be too pleased to see his new experiment in pain. Besides, I think you've done enough damage." I stared pointedly at my teammates and they didn't harass me again. If Lance really wanted to understand then he need only have imaged Kitty in Lula's place.

Mystique must have gone away for the night if Wanda had decided to show up. The two never got on well; competing for my father's affection will do that to you. Even though I knew I was powerless to stop it, a part of me couldn't imagine handing Tallulah over.

Wanda hadn't said anything since I rushed towards Lula and scooped her into my arms. There was nothing to say. For once I didn't feel anxious about standing up to her. Yeah, she was more powerful, but something snapped when I watched Lula fall.

Lance made the ground rumble and the door to the Brotherhood House flew open. I ignored all of them as I carefully made my way upstairs. My door was closed – I always kept it shut since privacy wasn't in Toad's vocabulary – so I had to maneuver Lula, supporting her weight with the side of my body, to open it. Eventually, I managed to lay her down, fanning the hair that had escaped her braid around her face so it didn't get trapped beneath her body.

I couldn't help but feel my cheeks redden as I took in the sight before me. Tallulah Avery, my absolute equal, was lying on my bed. My _bed. _

I told my thoughts to shut up and took a step back. She looked so vulnerable. Within a second I had the window open, the covers unfolded and a damp flannel across her forehead.

I shouted down the stairs, "don't even think about coming up here," then proceeded to slam the door.

Luckily, Lula hadn't been disturbed by the noise, and the water had cooled her skin, making her muscles relax. I checked to make sure she definitely wouldn't wake up before I slipped a hand underneath her back and gently pushed her shoulder, successfully rolling her onto her side. I pulled the covers over her frame and had to take a step back before I could continue.

After a minute of deep breathing I knelt beside her and unzipped the back of her suit. I squeezed my eyes shut because every new inch of her skin that was revealed was torturous and unfair. The zip jammed at her lower back and I risked a peek. "How am I supposed to help if I can't see the problem?" I muttered to myself.

The sight that I was met with made me want to run a thousand miles. Her entire back was covered with purple, green and blue splotches, making her skin simultaneously angry and tender. I flinched before I could even assess the countless scrapes that marked her skin. Underneath the bruising and lacerations I could make out the faint tan lines from her bathing suit, even though I desperately tried not to notice.

I grabbed the ointment and cream from my nightstand and prepared to rub it over the broken skin.

"This might sting, okay, Lula? But it'll help," I whispered.

My breath hitched as soon as I made contact with her skin. The cream turned pink as it mixed with the crusted blood. I decided it was probably best if I held my breath. I blocked out the smell of her floral shampoo, and the faint smell of sweat that meant she'd worked hard in battle, and proceeded to work.

I took my time, gently rubbing the cream in circles around the small cuts and lightly pressing antiseptic wipes into the deeper trails. Lula let out a small sigh when I'd finished, but she still hadn't woken up. I wondered what she was dreaming about.

I contemplated easing the suit off her shoulders but, if her exposed back was anything to go by, that probably wasn't the best idea. I settled for removing her boots. I fumbled with the clasps for a few minutes, and when they were off I draped the covers over her back and smoothed a lock of hair out of her eyes before retreating to the closet to get my clothes. I think it says a lot that I restrained myself from the temptation of changing in front of her on the off chance that she'd wake up and I could revel in her blushing face when she caught me with my suit tied at my waist.

I returned from the bathroom and finally released a steady breath when I sat down in the chair opposite and watched her dream. I tried to distract myself, but Lula was already the biggest distraction in my life.

For some strange reason, I didn't mind one bit.


	24. Chapter 23 - Scheming

I woke in a cold sweat. My heart hammered against my ribcage, threatening to burst as the details of last night slowly returned. The break-in, sharing power with Rogue, Wanda, Pietro.

_Pietro._

I jolted upright, accidently launching a flannel across the room, and took in my surroundings. I didn't recognize the bedroom. The curtains were drawn and a breeze floated in through the open window. With the back of my hand I wiped the sweat from my brow and rubbed my eyes, screwing them up and blinking them open, in the hopes that some of this would make sense. When I unfurled my fists I noticed all the cuts and scrapes that marked my palms. I traced them with my index finger and ran my tongue along the smaller ones. Wasn't that supposed to help?

Then the door opened. Pietro had pushed it open with his back, as he turned round I saw the tray in his arms, laden with breakfast and what looked like ointment.

I was ambushed by Toby's laughing face, reminding me that I should really get glasses if I couldn't see clearly. Then I would stick my tongue out and steal his thick black frames to read the whiteboard in class. I shook the memory away and gaped at the boy in front of me.

He was wearing black skinny jeans and a fitted white t-shirt that pulled against his muscular chest.

"You're awake." His surprise was replaced with a satisfied smile.

I looked down and felt the crisp morning air tickle the skin on my bare back. I scrambled to push my suit back up my shoulders, wrapping my arms around my chest.

Pietro smile melted into a smirk. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What am I doing here?" I asked. Reaching to my lower back, I yanked at the zipper.

"Wait, stop!"

Too late. Shocks of pain flared across my back and I whimpered.

"Your skin is still tender. Let me." He put the tray on the floor and approached to the bed, with the cream. He must have clocked my apprehension because he stepped back with his hands where I could see them.

I rolled my eyes. "Just…be gentle."

He nodded and I swiveled so my back was facing him. He rested one knee on the mattress, the added weight making my body slip closer to his. He placed one palm on my shoulder blade to hold me steady. With the other he carefully applied the cream.

I flinched at how warm his hands were; my back arched involuntarily when as he smoothed over the deeper gashes.

"I brought you some of my sister's clothes. You're about the same size, I think," he said when he'd almost finished.

"I'm not sure your sister would be happy to see me wearing them."

"She's not here."

"Still," I said.

"Well you can't exactly go to school in your X-Men costume."

"Right."

His hands left my back so I span to face him. He hadn't moved and we were practically nose to nose.

"What happened yesterday?" I asked.

"You got hurt when-"

"Wanda shoved me, yeah, I know what part." I blew some stray hair from my eyes. "What happened after that?"

"I carried you here and you slept."

"Where's everyone else?"

"Wanda left early this morning and the other boys are probably still asleep. Have I answered all your questions or are there more?"

"We're done," I replied.

"Good. Do you want breakfast?"

"I'm not really that hungry."

"C'mon! Of course you are, you need to eat. For strength."

I scoffed. "For strength?"

He reached to the floor and handed me the bowl of cornflakes. "Just eat them." This time he left. Just before he shut the door behind him I told him he could leave the clothes by the door.

When I was left alone, I looked through his drawers. I don't know what I expected to find. I was pretty used to being in boys' rooms after practically living at Toby's house, but Pietro's room was different. He had barely any personal effects. His clothes were all hung up neatly and arranged by length of the sleeve. His sweaters were folded and his trousers were pressed. It was an incredibly tidy room, and after seeing Kurt's room, which looked like a bomb went off in it every morning, I couldn't help but gawk.

I drew the curtains and changed into one of Wanda's outfits: a black crop-top, red cardigan and pleather mini skirt. There was a mirror in the corner of the room and I was almost scared to see what I looked like. I pulled at the hem of the skirt self-consciously. Undoubtedly Wanda's wardrobe was amazing, I felt powerful in the new clothes. My new aesthetic suddenly matched Rogue's and I have to say, I was excited to see what she thought of it.

Every step creaked as I walked downstairs to find Pietro.

He looked at me for a second longer than I thought necessary, but otherwise he didn't comment on my look.

"Do you want to walk to school?"

"Uh, for you that would take like two seconds."

He grabbed his bag from the kitchen counter. "Sorry, you probably shouldn't even be going to school today, right?"

"I have to."

His mischievious smile returned. "Daddy didn't know about his children going out to play last night?"

I gave him my most bored look. "No, he didn't."

"I did wonder why the rest of the _X-team_," he said, with his eyebrow cocked, "hadn't stormed over here demanding we release you. So, what's the cover story?"

"I guess we'll find out."

Pietro threw a set of car keys in the air and catches the deftly with his other hand. "I'll drive."

"LULA!" Kitty practically screamed. She ran at full pelt up to my locker, where Pietro had dropped me off not seconds before. "Oh my gosh, you're okay!"

I put my hands out quickly to stop her from wrapping her arms around me.

"Not quite." I pulled the shoulder of my cardigan down to reveal some of the bruising.

Kitty sucked in a breath. "What are you wearing?" She suddenly giggled.

"One of Wanda's costumes."

Kitty wrinkled her nose.

"I kinda like it." I shrugged.

Rogue, Kurt and Evan were close behind. They all sighed in relief when they saw me.

"Scott's on to us," Kurt said.

"Hello to you too, Kurt."

"Glad you're okay." Rogue touched her gloved hand to my wrist.

"We had to cover for your absence."

"Said you went home with Toby after the movie," Evan finished Kurt's explanation.

"We best let him know that's what happened," I added.

"He already does, Lula. Seriously, he would not stop calling Kitty, he was really worried about you." Rogue said. "We all were. What happened?"

"Wanda happened."

"And now you're wearing her clothes."

I squirmed under their assessing looks. "Yeah, ironic, huh?"

"I think you look good."

"Thanks, Ro."

"So, what's the game plan now?" Evan asked. "Scott and Jean aren't going to believe us if we use another excuse to bust out again. They know we weren't going to the movies yesterday."

"Yeah and if we can't get them to keep the secret we're, like, totally busted," Kitty gushed.

"Well, I know what went wrong last time," I said.

Rogue raised an eyebrow.

"I wasn't strong enough."

She scoffed.

"I need more training." It was just like swimming; practice makes perfect. After all the intense time I've had with trying to make new friends and not make too many new enemies, I hadn't properly been able to assess my performance to the same extent that I used to. But when I was sat in the car, in silence, with Pietro, it all seemed to make sense. I wasn't strong enough and I needed to work harder at my power. I barely understood it anyway.

"Lula, you shouldn't be training. You're injured."

"But Xavier and the other instructors can't know that. We have to go forward. Business as usual."

They knew I was right.

"Returning Wanda's clothes gives me the perfect opportunity to go back to the Brotherhood house anyway."

"You want to go back there?" Kitty exclaimed.

"The way I see it, it's the only way we're going to get new information about what Magneto's planning."

"So, you're going to use yourself as bait?" Rogue didn't sound impressed.

"Hey, you guys weren't so appalled by the idea of setting me up with Pietro a few days ago."

"It's different now." She didn't meet my gaze. "He hurt you."

"It wasn't him, Rogue. It was his sister."

"Same difference."

"He's Magneto's son! He has to know something!"

"I hate to say it, but I think Lula's right."

"Thank you, Evan. You know him best, right?"

"I wouldn't say that." He chuckled. "But Pietro does like pretty girls."

I blushed.

"He would probably tell you whatever he knew if you got close to him."

"Shouldn't be too hard, right?" I looked around at my teammates.

Rogue shook her head. "I still don't like it. Not one bit."


End file.
